The Chronicle, Thursday, November 29, 1984-Pag
Chronicle Profile
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If they could onl
By IRENE PERRY
Chronicle Staff Writer
t
In high school, Sandra Douglas' guidance
counselor told her there was no need for her to
apply to college because she would never complete
an undergraduate program.
But five years after her high school graduation,
she enrolled in R.J. Reynolds Industries'
continuing adult program sponsored by High
Point College. Three-and-a-half years after that,
snc graduated with a bachelor of science degree
in business administration.
She was the first K.L Reynolds Industries'
"Believe that you can do it, 'because you
can if you think you can. Believing that
you can is half the battle."
~ Sandra Douglas
employee to graduate from the program with no
prior college credit. But she didn't stop there.
Today, she is a second-year student at the Wake
Forest Babcock School of Business and expects
to graduate in May of 1985.
"I don't like people telling me what I cannot
do," says Douglas. "That has been my motivation.
It started when I was in the fourth grade.
* For two years, I was the only black in an allwhite
school, and I was always being put down.
Now, when I accomplish something, it's like
holding up a flag that says, 'You said I couldn't
do it, but I did.'"
Her educational pursuits began in earnest in
1979. It was the same year she married and purchased
a home. "I never believed in doing
L.
- Social Notes- From Pag
supporter of our organization." and a member o
Elberson, who is a native of directors. He b<
Winston-Salem, began his and chief operati!
business career in 1954 as a company in Janu
management trainee with Hanes Consolidated F
Hosiery. He held a series of ed in Chicago, i
management positions there and multinational coi
was named president in 1968. He nual sales of $7 b
became president and chief employees. Its v
^operating officer of the Hanes sumer products
Corp. in 1972. >.? ' ? ' > Hosiery, Hanc
When Hanes was acquired by L'eggs, Sara Le
Consolidated Foods Corp. in goods, Shasta b<
1979, Elberson was elected cor- cle, Electrolux a:
porate executive vice president products.
Local groups distribute heating fui
The Crisis Control Ministry for the sake of F
Inc. and Sunnyside Ministry of needy."
_ %. m i .
me Moravian ^nurcn nave oeen ine tuna nas
designated to administer Duke raising more thar
Power Company's 1984-85 Com- company's Nor
munity Challenge Heating Fund Carolina service
in Forsyth County, said Pete Bur- said.
ris, Duke's Winston-Salem It isn't to be
district manager. customer to q
T. f . ....... ~ . assistance. Home
The fund initiated by Duke ^ fue,
Power stockholders, is designed . ,
to help less fortunate families pay individuals 01
winter heating bills, Burris said. wj hj d
Forsyth County families will be should8contact c
eligible for a total of $48,360 m 724.7453 or t
assistance if local agencies can Mi_istJ.v at 724_7
raise matching funds for Duke's "Cold weather
contribution, he said. md the need f0|
"The challenge fund is just never been greate
that," Burris said. "We are "We have high 1
challenging local sources to come organizations will
forward and triple our donation need."
Banquet honors three for outstand
Mrs. Connie Cambell, Thomas Mrs. Campbe
Ellerbee and Edward Peebles areas of her chi
were the honorees at a banquet other churches
on Saturday, Nov. 24, at the especially Piney
Ramada Inn in Clemmons for Methodist Chui
outstanding service in their chur- mother and gram
ches and communities. been an inspirati
The banquet was planned by people in her ar
members and friends of their her was given by
churches ? Tabernacle United her pastor's wife
Church of Christ in Huntsville, Peebles, like I
Mount Sinai AME Zion Church ried to an Advar
in Advance and Brooks member of Pine
Memorial United Methodist Methodist Chun
Church in Jamaica, N.Y. him was given b;
Even though Ellerbee lives in Holman, the chi
New York, he is married to an After a musi<
Advance native and comes here Mrs. Anna Ingr
each August at "Big Meeting" Salem, and the i
time and usually in the fall. He is platform guesti
head of ushers in areas of New "Lift Every Vc
York and helps churches to was sung. The
organize usher boards. He given by the Re^
organized the usher board group pastor of C
at Piney Grove in Advance in Methodist Chur
1978. A tribute was given to him Salem. The intr
by Mrs. Ann H. Bynum. Please se
*
e A 7
y see her now
anything easy," says Douglas with a smile ~
which seems to be true, considering she's also expecting
a child in February and is building
another home.
When Reynolds started the college program,
Douglas had already contacted several colleges
regarding evening classes. "That's why 1 felt the
program was started just for me," says Douglas.
After graduation from High Point College,
she received two scholarships to attend business
school - one from UNC-Chapel Hill and another
from Wake Forest. In order to remain at home
with her husband, Douglas decided to attend
Wake Forest University.
"I am totally committed to my family and I
needed the support of my husband, Kelvin,"
says Douglas. "Kelvin has always been my
strength and my addedt ftiotivator. 1 believe the
Lord works through him to give me the strength
that 1 need ~ plus Kelvin is so understanding.
Think about this: All the years we have been
married, I have been a student."
She has no regrets about the sacrifices she has
made to pursue her educational goals. "1 realized
I had to give up something," says Douglas,
"whether it was a Saturday night movie or a
quiet evening home with my husband. Because 1
had to study, there were times I just could not be
there."
As a graduate student, Douglas studies 10 to
12 hours a day, and when she does have time to
relax, she attends Winston-Salem State football
games.
She admits graduate school is extremely
demanding and strenuous. "It's the hardest
thing I've ever been through in my life," she
says. "It is even more arduous than when I workeAs
? -? . |
f their board of
icarae president
ng officer of the A
lary ^
-ood Corp., basa
mpany with anillion
and 93,000
veil-known con- M WA
Underwear, ??^
e frozen baked _
averages, Popsind
Fuller Brush
nds I
orsyth County's.* 5j
2 ^
the potential of 2 ^
l $600,000 in the
th and South
territory, Burris
a Duke Power iJH
ualify for the JHH
:s may be heated JH9
icluding natural BIh
1 wood, he said. A
r organizations
ite to the fund
Crisis Control at
is upon us now, I ^ Jlfe
r assistance has
:r," Burris said.
lopes that local
to
11 works
ireh, as well as
in her vicinity, ^^
Grove United
rch. She is a ^
dmother and has
on to the young Hp
j* M':
Ellerbee, is mar- '*> ?$$*
ice lady who is a I Rl>:> ^ jt^d
y vjrovc uimcu
y Mrs. Ernestine
:al interlude by /2? J jfl i
am of Winston>rocession
of the Mj||?||ig^^
>, the anthem, BHHBjfijff/fl?'ij''' 'V l\ii\
>ice and Sing,"
invocation was ... T1_ p r
-. Glenn Brooks, VVarning: The Surgeon G
:rews United H That Cigarette Smoking Is I
ch of Winstonoduction
of the
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Sandra Douglas: They said she couldn't, but
ed full-time and attended evening college. In
graduate school you teach yourself. You are
given a road map and you are expected to be an
expert driver."
Yet, her life has been enriched by the experience,
she says, and because of the short time
she has to spend with her family, Douglas
realizes how important her family is. "I notice
the little things that occur; things I never would
have noticed if I had not made this sacrifice."
One sacrifice Douglas has made that many
other people in Winston-Salem would not even
consider doing was quitting her job at R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co. However, to take advantage
. of the opportunity to attend graduate
school, Douglas resigned from the company in
June of 1983.
"My career goals and inner growth are more
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she did (photo by James Parker).
important to me," says Douglas. "I felt going to
school would make me more valuable to any
company than staying in the position I was in. I
never would have been satisfied until I met my
educational goals."
Those goals finally will be achieved when she
graduates in May. After graduation, Douglas
wants to work with marketing a consumer product
? to use her skills acquired in a marketingoriented
field.
"I also want to be involved in some type of
youth program to help kids who, just like myself,
were told, 'You just can't do it,"' she says.
"I want to let them know that their PSAT,
SAT, GMAT scores are not signs of inferiority that
they can do anything if they really want to
do it. Believe that you can do it, because you can
if you think you can. Believing that you can is
half the battle."
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