Once upon a time as a little girl, Dr. Christy Granberry Barrick rode her bicycle on the Raymond Campus. She wasn’t exactly born on the grounds, but «Ӱҵ was in her blood from the beginning.
For her educational and career accomplishments, Barrick is the recipient of «Ӱҵ’s inaugural Young Alumnus of the Year Award, which recognizes an alumnus under the age of 40 who has attained significant professional, personal or community success.
She will be recognized along with other honorees at 4 p.m. on Oct. 29 at Cain-Cochran Hall on the Raymond Campus. The event is free and open to the public.
President Emeritus Dr. Clyde Muse of Raymond is receiving the inaugural Foundation Alumni Hall of Fame Award recognizing someone who has demonstrated over an extended period of time genuine interest and support of «Ӱҵ. It’s the highest honor presented by the Foundation and Alumni Association.
Also being recognized are Alumnus of the Year Bill Dunlap, who has a Mississippi home in Mathiston, Alumni Service Award recipient, Ken Coomes of Brandon; Sports Hall of Fame inductees Mike Burch, of Mobile, Ala., football, 1986-1987; Jeffrey Fields, of Baton Rouge, La., football, 1986-1987; Dwayne Green, of Fayetteville, Ga., soccer, 1984-1987; Phyllis Rhodes Krebs, of Pelahatchie, basketball, 1981-1983 and Jeff Long, of Meadville, baseball, 1987-1989.
Barrick, who graduated in 2005, said she grew up in Raymond knowing she was going to «Ӱҵ.
“When my classmates dreamed of going on to a university, I knew that «Ӱҵ was absolutely, 100 percent where I would start my college education. It was not that I had to start at «Ӱҵ; I wanted to,” she said.
She finished her doctorate in nursing practice in 2019 while working and raising two children, Riley, 8, and Cooper, 5, with husband Dustin, a coach at Germantown High School. Now at age 35, she is an acute care nurse practitioner at the University of Mississippi Medical Center where she manages critically ill trauma and surgery patients at the state’s only level 1 trauma center. The family is also very involved in Broadmoor Baptist Church.
She has authored and implemented a new protocol at UMMC that has changed certain aspects of care for ICU patients. This work has led to her being the primary author for three publications and she was asked to present at a national conference this year.
Her work ethic won’t be a surprise to anyone who knows her mother, «Ӱҵ Foundation Executive Director Jackie Granberry.
“«Ӱҵ has always been a family to me and the people that I met at «Ӱҵ are lifelong friends. I feel like I got the foundation I needed to be successful in college, but I also learned much more,” she said. “I had some of the best instructors that I have had in my educational journey. They cared about me and encouraged me.”
The highlight of her «Ӱҵ experience was «Ӱҵ Connection, the college’s student public relations and recruiting group that is highly visible at college events.
“Through «Ӱҵ Connection, I was able to meet a lot of people and be involved in a leadership role,” she said.
Barrick first became a «Ӱҵ student when she dually enrolled as a high school junior. After graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2005, she went on to nursing school at Delta State University, also graduating Magna Cum Laude there in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She received both her master and doctorate degrees at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2014 and 2019.
“Just learning to work hard and work well with others, working together as a team, and learning to work with people from different backgrounds, different ways of life, different personalities has helped me throughout my career,” Barrick said. “I learned much of that at «Ӱҵ.”
As Mississippi’s largest community college, «Ӱҵ is a comprehensive institution offering quality, affordable educational opportunities with academic programs of study leading to seamless university transfer and career and technical programs teaching job-ready skills. With six locations in central Mississippi, «Ӱҵ enrolls about 12,000 students each fall semester. To learn more, visit www.hindscc.edu or call 1.800.«ӰҵCC.