While her friends graduated and started families, Reeves made the tough decision to further her education — a decision she’s glad she made. As a 2016 nominee for teacher of the year in the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering at Prairie View A&M Univ., it would seem her students are happy, too. Reeves is an assistant professor in Prairie View’s Chemical Engineering Dept., where she enjoys working with a diverse student body.
A self-described naturally compassionate person, she wants to see all of her students succeed, but understands that it isn’t always possible. “Watching personal struggles destroy great students is never easy,” she says. She can relate to her students who struggle with feedback and criticism, and she advises them to appreciate the experience as a “time for growth and learning, not reducing self-esteem.”
Reeves is looking to ensure a consistent crop of chemical engineering students for her to teach and inspire. A Society of Women Engineers (SWE) camp for highschool students motived her to become a chemical engineer, and now she wants to reach out through similar K–12 initiatives.