Spotlight – Brenda Dykes

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Get to know our Animal Science faculty, staff and graduate students in our Spotlight feature.

Meet Brenda Dykes, Admin Support for Animal Science

What is the most exciting part of your job?
Meeting new people and trying to instill positivity into everyone’s days. We all have a bad day, just hate to see it continue past the point of time that I see them.

Who inspires you?
My mom and my husband. My mom even though she is 83 years old, she takes care of my dad, keeps up with most of her house and yard work and still does so many things for others. She can run circles around so many people and yet turns her nose up at her own health issues.

My husband just amazes me with everything he does. He works on average of 50 hours per week, in addition to helping both sets of our family members and friends with a vast range of things, yet never complains.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
The first thing I remember wanting to do as a child was to work on a ranch in the WY/CO/MT area. After a few less than desirable horse rides, I changed to working in a business type setting.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Either still at Brehm, or retired with a vacation home between Clearwater Beach and the Orlando area.

Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies?
I love to cook, especially appetizers and desserts, just not sure if that’s hidden. I also love watching certain shows on the home/food networks and also movies on PureFlix.

What’s your favorite thing to do on the weekends?
Go riding with the hubby in our convertible and love spending time with my family!

What’s a skill you’d like to improve on?
Time management especially in my personal life (probably due to #5 above, lol).

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
I am definitely an introvert until I know you better, then I am a little bit of an extrovert.

What’s your least favorite chore around the house?
Cleaning the bathroom

What piece of advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
Stand still to let God move and to be sure to marry that curly dark-haired boy with the blue eyes as soon as possible…