Welcome to Mollie Mines
I believe that everyone experiences multiple moments of clarity throughout their lives that determine the path they walk in life. I currently find myself in the midst of a lot of change in my life and keep thinking about those moments of clarity that got me here. Those moment of clarity that I can clearly remember are:
1) Watching my first re-run of Rin Tin Tin K-9 Cop as a child and deciding I wanted to be a police officer when I grew up
2) Being in the middle of a sparring match in the police academeny and realizing that perhaps my short stature didn't make a very good match for the career I had chosen
3) Walking down the aisle at my wedding when I was 22 and thinking that I was probably making a big mistake
4) Thinking that the professor of my Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health class at Murray State University, Dr. Fender, was crazy when he started the semester by blaring the 80's song The Safety Dance from his computer before the first class yet being stragely ok with and feeling like I was where I was supposed to be for the first time in my life
5) Watching media footage of The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in class and feeling sorry for those poor miners who had no other employment options and deciding I was going to dedicate my life to saving them
6) Leaving my husband nine months after getting married and deciding I was never going to rely on anyone but myself ever again to take care of me
7) Working at Sierrita Mine and realzing that everything the media had taught me about mining was a lie
8) Watching the educational film "Mining for Music" and realzing that while I may not work in the performing arts like my parents their is still a link between what I chose to do with my life and what they chose to do with theirs
9) Working the underground lead mines in Missouri and realizing the sheer scope of what mining is and that it really is like being part of a secret society that no one else will ever understand and being proud to be a part of it
10) Working in the underground gold mines in Nevada and losing two of my coworkers to falls underground and feeling like maybe if I had been better at my job they would still be alive
11) Being a part of the McNair Scholar Program and realzing the power that having people outside your family beliveing in you can have
12) Organizing a Worker's Memorial Day Ceremony at University of Central Missouri my senior year to honor my fallen coworkers and educating students across all majors about hazards in the workplace and realizing the power of turning something so tragic into something so positive and powerful
13) Working with the coal mines in West Virginia and iron mines in Minnesota on my McNair undergraduate thesis and designing a piece of protective equipment for underground miners and realizing the power making a difference has
14) Accepting a promotion with my current company for a 40 week project and impulsively buying a travel trailer to live in and then realizing that I have absolutely no clue what I'm getting into
I have never been normal. I have never been what society told me I should be. As a child I prefered sweatsuits to dresses and dinosaurs and tonka toys to Barbies. I struggled for a long time to be what I felt I was supposed to be and suffered as a result. It wasn't until I found myself in an Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health class my sophomore year of college and watched media footage of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that I really felt that I knew who I was supposed to be. Up until that point I had always felt that I needed to be appologetic for not comforming to who I thought everyone wanted me to be but from that point forward I embraced it. No longer did I appologize to my husband for wearing jeans and t-shirts when he told me I looked like a child and should dress like asupportive trophy wife. No longer did I feel like I should take liberal arts classes to feel like I could relate more to the women I grew up around. I became a confident and strong woman and I have never looked back.
I feel like I am writing a bunch of random mumbo jumbo on here. I do have a point to make and there is definitely a point to this blog. The point is that I am different and I want to chronicle that. I have made the choice to be who I want to be and live my life the way it makes me happy and I want to share that with the world. I want other girls and women to know that it's ok to be whoever you want to be. I am fortunate enough that I have parents that taught me to think for myself, question everything and make my own decisions but unfortunately, society isn't so open-minded. I want to share my own experiences, both past and present, so that maybe others will feel more comfortable living their life in the way that they want. It shouldn't matter if I want to work at a mine or if I want to be a teacher. I chose not to live a life that's black and white but a life that's full of color and women working blue collar jobs whenever they want.
With all that being said, welcome to my Mollie Mines Blog! Here I will share past experiences, trips I've gone on (I love traveling the off-beat paths) and my journeys, adventures and misadventures. Enjoy!
- Mollie Brown
1) Watching my first re-run of Rin Tin Tin K-9 Cop as a child and deciding I wanted to be a police officer when I grew up
2) Being in the middle of a sparring match in the police academeny and realizing that perhaps my short stature didn't make a very good match for the career I had chosen
3) Walking down the aisle at my wedding when I was 22 and thinking that I was probably making a big mistake
4) Thinking that the professor of my Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health class at Murray State University, Dr. Fender, was crazy when he started the semester by blaring the 80's song The Safety Dance from his computer before the first class yet being stragely ok with and feeling like I was where I was supposed to be for the first time in my life
5) Watching media footage of The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in class and feeling sorry for those poor miners who had no other employment options and deciding I was going to dedicate my life to saving them
6) Leaving my husband nine months after getting married and deciding I was never going to rely on anyone but myself ever again to take care of me
7) Working at Sierrita Mine and realzing that everything the media had taught me about mining was a lie
8) Watching the educational film "Mining for Music" and realzing that while I may not work in the performing arts like my parents their is still a link between what I chose to do with my life and what they chose to do with theirs
9) Working the underground lead mines in Missouri and realizing the sheer scope of what mining is and that it really is like being part of a secret society that no one else will ever understand and being proud to be a part of it
10) Working in the underground gold mines in Nevada and losing two of my coworkers to falls underground and feeling like maybe if I had been better at my job they would still be alive
11) Being a part of the McNair Scholar Program and realzing the power that having people outside your family beliveing in you can have
12) Organizing a Worker's Memorial Day Ceremony at University of Central Missouri my senior year to honor my fallen coworkers and educating students across all majors about hazards in the workplace and realizing the power of turning something so tragic into something so positive and powerful
13) Working with the coal mines in West Virginia and iron mines in Minnesota on my McNair undergraduate thesis and designing a piece of protective equipment for underground miners and realizing the power making a difference has
14) Accepting a promotion with my current company for a 40 week project and impulsively buying a travel trailer to live in and then realizing that I have absolutely no clue what I'm getting into
I have never been normal. I have never been what society told me I should be. As a child I prefered sweatsuits to dresses and dinosaurs and tonka toys to Barbies. I struggled for a long time to be what I felt I was supposed to be and suffered as a result. It wasn't until I found myself in an Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health class my sophomore year of college and watched media footage of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that I really felt that I knew who I was supposed to be. Up until that point I had always felt that I needed to be appologetic for not comforming to who I thought everyone wanted me to be but from that point forward I embraced it. No longer did I appologize to my husband for wearing jeans and t-shirts when he told me I looked like a child and should dress like a
I feel like I am writing a bunch of random mumbo jumbo on here. I do have a point to make and there is definitely a point to this blog. The point is that I am different and I want to chronicle that. I have made the choice to be who I want to be and live my life the way it makes me happy and I want to share that with the world. I want other girls and women to know that it's ok to be whoever you want to be. I am fortunate enough that I have parents that taught me to think for myself, question everything and make my own decisions but unfortunately, society isn't so open-minded. I want to share my own experiences, both past and present, so that maybe others will feel more comfortable living their life in the way that they want. It shouldn't matter if I want to work at a mine or if I want to be a teacher. I chose not to live a life that's black and white but a life that's full of color and women working blue collar jobs whenever they want.
With all that being said, welcome to my Mollie Mines Blog! Here I will share past experiences, trips I've gone on (I love traveling the off-beat paths) and my journeys, adventures and misadventures. Enjoy!
- Mollie Brown
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