Creswell native Shenita Bond serves Tyrrell County Senior Activity Center as it’s administrative assistant, where she and other professionals do their part in keeping seniors fit, active and healthy.
After graduating from Creswell High School in 1996, Bond attended Beaufort Community College to pursue a degree in business administration for a short time before leaving the institution.
“After I graduated high school I went to Beaufort for a few months,” she recalls. “Then I went to work on the beach until about 1999.”
During this point in time, her professional life would largely take a backseat to some significant changes to her family life.
“I ended up moving to Durham where met my husband and started a family. I had my three kids and I stayed married until 2010…My marriage ended and that’s when I became a single mom,” she recalls.
Fortunately, the end of her marriage was only a temporary setback, as it would spell the beginning of a brand-new avenue in her life and a radical new direction.
“I got back to work and I found a few jobs here and there, mostly as a personal care aid and then as a housekeeper,” she says. “But then in 2014, I joined the workforce program through social services. I only did that for two months but it was long enough for me to meet two wonderful people that helped change my life.”
Those two people would end up being two fellow Creswell natives, Paulique Horton and Jasmine Spruill, both of whom were also on their own journeys towards prominence and self-sufficiency. To those from the Creswell area, Horton is recognizable figure, being the owner of Barnyard Betsy Cheesesteaks and Hoagies and a financial guru. Similarly, Spruill has also made great personal strides as the lead social worker for Tyrrell County Schools.
As such, both women would prove to be instrumental in changing Bonds outlook on life and providing her with a framework for achieving success.
“They really changed my life,” Bond says proudly. “Paulique is my best friend and I consider both of them as part of my admittedly small circle. They’ve always had my back and I really appreciate them for lighting a fire underneath me and encouraging me to do better, to change my mindset and strive for more.”
With their encouragement Bond began to look at outward for other opportunities. In 2014, she would go on to become a part-time office assistant for the Tyrrell County Senior Activity Center.
“In 2014, after I met them, I became an office assistant for the Tyrrell County Senior Activity Center part-time and I ended up becoming a full-time administrative assistant in 2016,” she says.
For Bond, working inside an office space was a long time goal and something that would be a welcome change...
