A few years ago, UT PhD student Sa’Nealdra Wiggins packed up her life and moved to Knoxville—before she had even applied to UT’s graduate program. Nowadays, the same drive and determination that brought Wiggins to a strange city before her academic future was certain has now led her to become one of UT’s current most successful PhD candidates.
Wiggins was recently named as one of the five 2019 Tennessee Doctoral Fellows, an accolade which is the highest honor that a PhD student at UT can receive. The award comes with a $20,000 research grant, as well as a tuition waiver for the extent of the PhD program.
Wiggins grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee, and as a high school student, she began developing a passion for health and nutrition. She noticed how unhealthy the diets of herself and her friends were, and this recognition led her to pursue an undergraduate degree in public health with a minor in nutrition from MTSU. After working for a couple of years, Wiggins realized that she wanted to go back to school and focus her studies on nutrition.
She enrolled as an undergraduate student at UT in 2013 in order to complete certain nutrition classes necessary to enter the graduate school. When Wiggins first began studying at UT, she split her time between a full-time job, college classes and a gig volunteering in an on-campus lab run by Dr. Sarah Colby, who is now Wiggins’ advisor.
As aforementioned, Wiggins is currently a PhD student at UT in the nutrition department. Her interest in her field stems greatly from her observations of common sicknesses in the African American community.
“I see where African Americans and blacks in general are usually at a disparity as far as health goes, with different conditions and diseases and things, so I really developed a passion for that throughout the years,” Wiggins said.
Wiggins is also interested in the familial aspect of eating patterns, and she is currently focusing her attention on the role that mother-daughter relationships can play in eating well and developing healthy lifestyles. She is planning a study to take place next summer, during which she will observe if teaching mothers healthy eating habits causes their daughters to make healthier choices as well.
Dr. Sarah Colby, Wiggins’ advisor, explained that Wiggins’ desire to help communities in need is very impressive and admirable.
“She has a passion for helping the community,” Colby said. “She really wants to work with low income families and moms and kids to help them have a healthier life.”
Colby even mentioned that through observing the way that Wiggins interacts with the world, her own understanding of outreach has shifted.
“We all learn from everybody we work with, and I think that her vision for how she’s gonna reach communities in need—cause she brings her own background and perspectives and goals—have helped expand how I see working in communities, which is a wonderful thing,” Colby said.
Wiggins expressed her utmost gratitude, and she emphasized that her dedication and her commitment to her field is what has led to the success she has today. She also explained that in academia, the ability to adjust to the working environments of others is key to a happy doctoral experience.
“I think a lot of us have Type A personalities, and it’s been a struggle or a challenge for me to adapt to different working styles,” Wiggins said. “It’s okay if you’re taking a little longer to write. It’s okay if you need to adapt to the working styles of your lab or your department or things like that. I think we all have different working styles, so being able to adapt to your environment is definitely needed.”
After finishing her doctoral degree, Wiggins hopes to work for the government in a health department, work with women and children or possibly become a teacher.
