UET Online Magazine

For OCSEA union activist Angela Walls, life has been an amazing educational journey, and the Union Education Trust (UET) has helped make it a reality, she says.

Angela’s love for learning has been a constant but “life, as it does, sometimes gets in the way,” she says.

“At one point in my life it was hard to admit that I never graduated high school,” said Angela who became pregnant with her first child when she was just eighteen.

“In 1983, I remember sitting there in the stands on commencement day, with my baby in my arms, watching my closest friends and family walk the stage to receive their high school diplomas. And I remember how it brought me sadness because I should have been walking along with them,” she reflects. “So, I made a promise to myself and to my children that I would never stop pursuing my education, and that I was going to get my GED.” After marriage, and three children later, Angela went back, in her late thirties, to earn her GED in 2002.

It was that leap that led her to working at Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority for seven years and then from there, she landed a position in state public service, she says. Angela started as an intermittent in 2010 as a Customer Service Representative (CSR) with the Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services in Unemployment Insurance. She has been dedicated to public service ever since. She then landed on a career in the Ohio Dept. of Medicaid, formerly a part of ODJFS until 2014.

Angela currently works as an Administrative Professional 3 in the Medicaid’s Bureau of Provider Services and Support, which collaborates directly with providers on issues pertaining to nursing care facilities admissions and withdrawals and movements to those facilities. In fact, her current career is what has helped her home in on her career goals and pushed her on her most recent educational journey.

When Angela came to state service, not only did she discover the power of what it means to be a union member, she also discovered her UET benefits. It was those union-negotiated benefits that helped her set her sights high. She has since acquired her associate and a bachelor’s degrees, a dream come true for Angela. In fact, just this past April 28, she received her bachelor’s in business administration degree with an emphasis in health care management. She proudly graduated with honors, she said.

“I chose health care management as my concentration, because I currently work for Medicaid. I hope it will open doors for me where I can continue to build upon and apply knowledge of the healthcare industry and financial stability. I’m always looking to apply for anything that comes open,” said Angela who hopes to continue her journey in the Office of Medicaid.

Angela also says that being a union activist has been a great educational journey. She currently serves as an executive board member and steward for ODJFS Chapter 2599. She says her staff representative and chapter leaders inspired her and encouraged her to take training, learn the contract and be a voice for her co-workers.

“I want to be that person that our members can come to and talk to. I want to help, not only myself, but the people I work with,” said Angela, who has taken basic and advanced steward trainings. She enjoys networking at OCSEA conferences and learning from other public employee union members across the state. She is also proud to tell any member about her own educational journey, from college to the union, and how the UET benefits, up to $8,000 every year, are available for their own journey.

Angela says she wants her educational journey to be her legacy, which began as a positive role model for her three children and now for her five grandchildren. “I have granddaughters now, and I want them to be proud to say, ‘Nana has a college degree!”

When asked if her grown children are proud of her accomplishments, she emphatically said, “Oh yes. Yes! My kids are very much!”

“I’ve always told them, whatever you put your mind on, don’t give up, don’t give up on your dreams,” said Angela.