The University of Mary’s “Billboard Mom” shares how she balanced a growing family and a growing career.
M
arijke Leible and her classmates share a rainbow. Not literally, of course. But when fellow members of her doctoral group at the University of Mary comes across a picture or an image of a rainbow, they share it with their classmates because it has come to have a deep symbolic meaning to this ‘friends-for-life’ group. “When we see a rainbow, we take a picture and share within our group,” Marijke said. “The rainbow symbolizes purpose and hope for the future. I will never see a rainbow without thinking of them.” ‘Them’ are those in Marijke’s Doctorate in Educational Leadership cohort at the University of Mary, from which Marijke 14
Momentum
graduated in 2018. “I have always felt a tug toward a career in education,” she said. Originally, while at Baylor University, Marijke studied premedicine and hoped to attend medical school. However, after graduation, she began as a paraprofessional in a high school special education classroom in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After being in the classroom, she realized education was her passion. So she returned to school and earned her master’s degree in elementary education and spent eight years teaching in Albuquerque. When her family moved to Bismarck in 2012 to be closer to her husband’s family, Marijke had three children and was expecting another. “So I decided to stay home with them for a while. I appreciated being home with my kids,” she said, “but I missed teaching.” A few years later, as she began to think about applying for a teaching position, she became intrigued by the University of
Mary’s Educational Leadership doctoral program. “One evening while making dinner, I listened to a radio interview with Dr. Carmelita Lamb talking about the program and immediately felt the nudge to apply,” she said. Marijke said she loved teaching but was excited at the idea of supporting other teachers the way so many of her colleagues had supported her in the past. Shortly after, she applied and was accepted into the program. When she did, Carmelita promised Marijke the program and degree would be “life-changing.” It had been many years since Marijke had taken classes, and to her, it felt like a completely different world of learning. “With the invaluable support from professors like Dr. Mike Taylor, Dr. Brenda Tufte, Dr. Lamb, and Dr. Rod Jonas and the encouragement from my cohort, I learned more than I ever thought possible,” she said.
