“Always trust God first and foremost,” advised Nicole McCree. “Get in a relationship with God, trust God, believe in yourself, and never give up. When people say you can’t, you don’t have to prove it to them that you can, but prove it to yourself that you can.”
Nicole McCree values her relationship with God and does her best to let Him shine through in her life in every way she can. She has always maintained an optimistic attitude and enjoyed sharing her joy with those around her.
Growing up, she enjoyed spending time with others in her neighborhood. Her relationship with her neighbors created a strong familial bond with the people around her. The memories she has with her family are also some of her favorites.
“When I was growing up, the neighborhood was real close and tight,” remembered Nicole. “All the kids in the neighborhood used to play together. My childhood is something that I think really built me to be the person I am because it was all family. I remember days where we would go to my grandmother’s house, and all of my first cousins were there. We used to stay outside and play hopscotch, drink from the water hose, and play kickball. We used to find a tennis ball somewhere and find a stick and just play baseball. I think those were the best days. Even the neighbors were family; if one person got in trouble in the neighborhood, everybody got in trouble in the neighborhood.”
Time with family wasn’t just spent at home, though. Over the years, Nicole enjoyed traveling with her family and enjoying their company in other places.
“I used to travel with my grandmother all the time. I would go to Indianapolis or wherever she would go. My dad has a sister who lived on the coast, and anytime she would come home she would always say that if I wanted to come with her to pack my clothes and shoes and go back with her because I just loved to travel,” Nicole reminisced. “At the age of 11, I took my first flight by myself to California. My uncle, LV McCree, was military, and he and his wife lived in San Diego, California. From age 11 to 16, that’s where I spent summer breaks. I would go to California every year to babysit for them while they worked during the summer. That first time I was on the plane by myself I had one of those dog tags so the stewardess would walk me from destination to destination, had my bags with me, and they would stay with me. When I finally got to California, my uncle was there to meet me. I got to experience life. I would fly to California, and my aunt would always drive me back to Mississippi. She would allow me to help her drive because I learned to drive at an early age. We’d drive back to Mississippi with the kids, and she’d leave the kids with us for us to keep for an additional month.”
She has made sure to continue sharing those life experiences with her own family as she got older.
“That’s what I try to do as a parent,” expressed Nicole. “As a young girl I was exposed to other places other than Quitman and Mississippi. That’s what I try to do with my kids—my oldest daughter, my baby daughter, and my grandson. I try to take them different places and go on vacation because I want them to see that there’s more out there in the world than just Quitman—go sightseeing, have fun, vacation, and just experience things.”
Her childhood also sparked another one of her favorite things: sports. Whether it’s playing, watching, or cheering on her family, Nicole absolutely loves sports.
“My dad always loved sports, so if you wanted to watch T.V. when you were younger at my house, you would have to watch baseball, football, or basketball,” recalled Nicole. “That’s why my sister and I are real big sports lovers. My favorite pro team is the Philadelphia Eagles, favorite college team is Mississippi State, and I’m a die hard ride or die Quitman Panther fan. Probably in the last 15-20 years I could count on one hand how many football games I’ve actually missed. I don’t have any sons, so I always go support the young people. Now, I have my daughter who’s a cheerleader. I love football. I like baseball. I like basketball but not as much as I love football and baseball. I grew up playing softball. I made my daughters play softball because it was something my family did. I come from a sports family.”
When she first got out of high school, everything didn’t necessarily go the way she would have envisioned, but she learned lessons along the way that she has been able to share with everyone around her. She worked hard and learned through the hard work the value that a good education could have.
“When I graduated high school, I went to USM for a year. Then, I came home because I had some things going on. I came home and worked that summer. Then, I wanted to go to Jones. I tell young people now and try to instill in my daughter and other kids that college is not what you think it is. If you’re not disciplined, you’re going to go there, party, and flunk out. Guess what—that’s what happened: I flunked out. I was in the game room at Jones and didn’t take it seriously. I remember my mom and dad telling me that if that’s what I want to do then I need to come home and get a job,” informed Nicole. “I had to work and find a job. I worked low end jobs, barely making it. Then, I ended up having my oldest daughter, and it was a struggle. I never experienced poor until I had her because I was a single parent. It was a struggle trying to raise her and work, and then years later I had a second daughter.”
With encouragement, Nicole didn’t give up and decided to make a change to have a better life for her and her daughters.
“I had two guy friends growing up in school, Johnny Douglas and David Brown. Every time they would see me they would tell me I’m too smart to do what I was doing working those low end jobs. They said I was too smart to be out there doing that,” declared Nicole. “Finally, I started doing school online at East Central when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter. I finished that in about two and a half years with my AA. Then, I enrolled at Mississippi State and went into the social work program. What was supposed to be a two year program ended up being three years because I was going through some things and had to come out of the program three months before graduation. I’m thankful because when I look back on that time, that wasn’t my time to be out in the world because I wasn’t mature enough to go out and work with people to try and help them. I repeated a year at Mississippi State and graduated April 30, 2010. I didn’t stop. I went straight into the Master’s counseling psychology program at UWA. That was supposed to be a two year program as well. I had some setbacks along the way. I did graduate with my Master’s in psychology and counseling, but I still went back and continued to take more classes. I just got tired along the way and am actually four classes away from a second Master’s degree. I consider myself to be very resilient. I always say the only failure in life is when you fall and don’t get back up. You can do it if you don’t give up; you just keep persevering until you reach your goal.”
Now, she does different things through her job and volunteer work to be able to encourage and help young people be successful in life.
“I am a mentor at Quitman School District. I go in once a week to mentor a little girl, and I just enjoy my time with her trying to be creative and helping her through whatever it is that she’s going through. For the last two or three years, I’ve been cheer booster president. Now, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside our cheer coach, Mrs. Dana Mayo, and it’s like a match made in heaven for us. I’m trying to assist Coach Charlie Sorto with getting a booster club for powerlifting,” proclaimed Nicole. “I work for Canopy Children’s Solutions where I am a lead therapist right now. I’m looking to move up to supervisor in the next six months. I love my job and being a change agent in the lives of others—helping families realize what’s their problem. I go really hard to do whatever it is I have to do to help children have a safe place and make sure the parents are doing what’s needed to be done and take care of the children. At the end of the day, I’m all about family, but I’m about the safety and well-being of the children.”
No matter what she does, whether it’s working, spending time with family, travelling, volunteering, or taking just a little time to relax, Nicole is always offering love and hope to those around her. She will continue to welcome others into her life and be a positive influence and great role model for everyone she comes across.
If you would like to nominate someone for Person of the Week, contact Brittney Mangum at 601-776-3726.
