English Lecturer Amy Frazier spent most of her childhood living in Europe and Japan because her dad was in the U.S. Army.
She graduated from Hanna High School in 1978 and started college at Pan American University at Brownsville.
โMy dad retired from the Army when I had just graduated from high school,โ Frazier said.
Luciano V. Sierra retired from the Army after 30 years of service and started college with Frazier.
โWe took English, history and science classes together,โ she said. โHe was a troublemaker. He would like to ask the professors challenging questions.โ
Frazier said that in the English courses that she and her father took together, they would have the same writing assignments and what would take her five pages to write, he could write it in one page and get the same grade.
โHe was a good writer,โ she said of her father, who died on Dec. 5.
Frazier decided to go for a year to the University of Texas at Austin and then returned to graduate from PAUB.
โI started teaching at Porter High School for four years, then I moved up to Dallas and taught three years in a high school,โ she said.
After that, Frazier came back to Brownsville to get her masterโs in English at what was then the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College.
โThat was back at a time when you could get your masterโs and work here at the same time,โ she said. โThis is my 23rd year teaching here.โ
Getting to know what their professors do outside of class may help students better understand them.
Besides being a lecturer, Frazier serves on the board of the Brownsville Beautification Committee.
โWe try to beautify our city with trees and plants,โ she said. โAnd thereโs areas downtown where we try to beautify with landscaping. Thatโs one of the projects.โ
She is also a delegate of Voting Precinct 12 in Brownsville and recently was sworn in as chair.
โWe vote as a delegate when it comes time for people to run for office,โ Frazier said. โWe represent our precinct of the people that vote for local leaders, state leaders and national leaders.โ
Frazierโs days are filled with work, volunteering and healthy living.
6 a.m.: Frazier wakes up and does โoil pullingโ and has a bowl of kefir milk with flaxseed and organic Stevia for breakfast.
โItโs a natural way to detoxify your body,โ Frazier said. โMy daughter says Iโm weird, but Iโm very health conscious.โ
7:30 a.m.: She arrives at the UTRGV Brownsville campus and gets ready for her 8 a.m. class.
โI teach from 8 to 1:30, back-to-back classes,โ Frazier said.
1:30 to 3:30 p.m.: She has office hours Monday and Wednesday.
โIf students need to come talk to me, if they need some help with their essays–itโs not just to help them with work,โ Frazier said. โIโm available to help them in other areas. โฆ If I can help, Iโll go over there.โ She has helped students get enrolled and to get advised when they are having a hard time doing so.
โI didnโt realize for a long time that, sometimes, the students donโt have anybody to turn to,โ she said.
3:30 p.m.: โTeaching four classes back-to-back, I havenโt had time to eat, so Iโll go eat,โ Frazier said. โI have too many favorite places. I love sushi, so I love to go to Kumori and eat there.โ
She also likes to go to Cheddars because she likes the spinach dip.
5:30 p.m.: Last Thursday, Frazier served as a volunteer for the โEveryone Countsโ survey of those who are homeless. She helped distribute bags containing water, socks, underwear, among other items, to the homeless.
โThe more surveys we fill out from the homeless, the more funds we get from the federal, local and state levels,โ Frazier said. โWe do this so we can help the homeless with shelter, food and jobs.โ
7 p.m.: โOne day I jog, the next day I lift weights,โ Frazier said. โIโve jogged for more than 30 years.โ
She enjoys lifting weights at Goldโs Gym.
โThey have a great weightlifting class. โฆ I use the big bars; by the time youโre through, you do over a thousand squats,โ Frazier said.
8 p.m.: After the workout, Frazier goes home and cooks a meal.
โI usually cook organic vegetables with a little meat,โ she said. โNowadays, they have organic hamburger meat, organic bacon and organic chicken.โ
9 p.m.: โI watch British shows because I studied British literature,โ Frazier said. โThey are such great actors; some of them I didnโt even know they are British.โ
Her favorite show is โDoc Martin.โ
10 p.m.: โItโs time for me to start getting ready to go to bed,โ Frazier said. โI have to wake up at 5:50 a.m.โ
Her favorite hobby is traveling to other countries.
โI like to observe the people from other countries and learn their customs, listen to their languages, eat their food, listen to their music,โ Frazier said. โIโm very fascinated and intrigued by their customs and traditions.โ
