Brooke Belina, graduate of WSC in 2014, received her Masters Degree from Concordia University in 2016, is an adjunct faculty member for the Psychology department at WSC, and currently teaches Lifespan Development to students to help prepare them for future endeavors in areas of Natural and Social Science. Working at a nursing home in the past with the older generation helped Belina to decide what career to choose and why to come back to Wayne.

“I felt like I got a really good education and how to really get experience and so I was interested in coming back to teach,” Belina said. “I really like working with older adults and I really like having the opportunity to teach and kind of share my knowledge with the students at Wayne State.”

Having a Masters Degree in gerontology, the study of aging, Belina wanted to bring her knowledge to students and maybe influence them to learn more about that field of study here at WSC. Since her class is a general education course, Belina tends to have many students who are still looking to decide on a career path.

“I tend to have students who are psych. or soc. majors and they just quite haven’t figured out what they want to do and with my masters degree being in something that’s kind of different I hope that I can spark an interest in them because the field of aging services is growing as our population continues to become that of a little bit older,” Belina said.

Working all through high school helped Belina decide to come back to Wayne and influence young adults. She worked at a nursing home while still in high school as a certified nurses assistant, which helped her decide what career path to choose at WSC. Belina also works full-time as a nursing home administrator for Vetter Health Services.

“Being a CNA is a really humbling job, you really get to see people at one of the most compromised states in their life and it’s really a special thing to help somebody through that end of life phase because it’s something that nobody can really be prepared for,” Belina said. “I think just the rewarding aspect of that job was what made me really want to work in that field of aging. I’ve done a lot of things to prepare as a nursing home administrator, but the teaching has really helped and having to learn how to communicate with different people and how to communicate the same message many different ways.”

Belina is married and has one child, Cadee, who is one and a half years old.. Her husband, Clinton, is also a graduate of WSC and majored in Exercise Science and is a personal trainer at the Wellness Center. They also bought a home here in Wayne a few years ago, which they renovated.
“We really love Wayne; it’s a great town,” said Belina. “Neither of us are from here originally and it really feels like home for us.”

In her free time, Belina loves to read books, bake and watch “The Office.” She is very busy with working two jobs, so she really enjoys to the time she gets to spend with her daughter.