“Change Your Tune And Change Your Life”
or Get off Your Duff and Get to Work!
by M.A. Black
Dr. Cynthia Barnett
Dr. Cynthia Barnett of Norwalk knows how sweet success and achievement can be. How? She’s lived, breathed, fought demons and chased goals to achieve a dream so big it seemed impossible to all but her.
Forty years ago, Dr. Barnett came to the U.S. from St. Vincent without a dime to her name.
“I was broke financially, emotionally, and spiritually without the resources, support or guidance to help get me back on my feet,” she said. “The one thing that got me through day to day was my dream - to get the very best education the United States of America had to offer. I didn't have a clue how I was going to get it, but I was bound and determined to do whatever it took to make it happen. I had a mission and a vision, but had no money and my mother had no money. I had to figure out how to figure it all out, I had no guidance, didn’t even know what an SAT was, had never heard of the term. ”
So she worked - and worked - and worked a number of jobs including in a pen factory, cleaning houses, filing at an insurance company, and waiting tables in a convalescent home.
“When I grew up in the islands, I played the piano. So I tried to get into music school, it’s what I knew,” she said. “I found out about the New York School of Music and auditioned for admission, but did not pass. After failing, I asked the people at the school if I even had a chance to be admitted, they said yes. Then I asked what I could do to be better and took their advice to practice, practice, practice. At the time I worked as a clerk, and I practiced every day. I passed the next audition. Then two years later the college went bankrupt! Even that turned into a blessing, because New York University (NYU) took over the school and all their programs then opened up to me.”
Don’t think this is all stardust and magic powers.
“Many times I felt overwhelmed and even sorry for myself,” she recalls. “I didn't think my dreams would ever materialize.”
Barnett did not want to teach music for her career, so she changed her major and aimed for a life in education. She achieved a bachelor's degree from NYU.
She endured a grueling divorce after 12 years of marriage. To support 3 children as a single mom, she was almost ready to give up.
“My youngest was 3 when we got a divorce,” she said. “But when I focused on one step at a time, worked, focused on goals.”
The obstacles in the difficult years became milestones. Every step of the way, she studied, recorded, and tested the processes that worked for her to overcome the most difficult situations.
“I knew, that for a career in education, I had to make more money, I had to continue my own education.”
Her persistence paid off, and in May of 1988, she achieved her biggest dream and graduated with a doctorate degree from Columbia University.
Next Chapter
Barnett compiled the life lessons she learned into a book, Stop Singing the Blues. Part of her mission now is to spread the word about achievement and endurance to reach goals.
Recently, she spoke to students at Housatonic Community College about setting goals, the importance of education and the power of determination.
Having stepped out of the education arena after more than 30 years of teaching and working at the management level, she will say she is not retired, but is "refiring" - and as a life coach, she is working with others who want to "refire," not retire.
"This can be the time to work on long dormant dreams and work on a second, even a third life career," she said. I love helping people and motivating - it's part of my DNA."
And her greatest achievement?
"Raising 3 daughters as a single parent," she says. "Since they were little, I believed that they would grow into responsible women. As I look back, I am not sure how I did it! One step at a time, the homework got done, they were fed, and somehow I was making sure that education was one of the most important goal."
She says that it wasn’t a matter of if her daughters were going to college, it was a matter of where they were going.
"All three got scholarships from high school. I planned for college and sometimes worked out a way pay on monthly basis," she said. "There were times I was not making a whole lot of a money. When my youngest daughter was 19, a sophomore, she came to me and said she was pregnant. She came home, had the baby, and she went back to school. She is a teacher now, 31, and she never missed a beat."
Resources: For more about Dr. Barnett, visit www.peakperformance-solutions.com. To learn about life coaches, see www.findyourcoach.com or visit www.ggci.com.
