Every wonder who is responsible for laying out the newsletter? Well, wonder no more because I do, and I’d like to introduce myself to you. My name is Annie Sheridan, and I have been volunteering with NAMI for one year. I started by answering the phones one day a week and took on the responsibility of arranging the newsletter in April last year.

While trying to figure out what I wanted to do after graduating from Illinois State University with a degree in sociology, I job shadowed a social worker at Good Samaritan hospital and fell in love with the idea of helping people. I realized I needed some experience, and NAMI provided me the opportunity to do just that. I have always been interested in mental illness because my mother is a psychiatric nurse.

Besides volunteering I have a wonderful job as a registrar at Central DuPage Hospital’s Convenient Care in Glen Ellyn. In my free time I enjoy reading; I am constantly reading anything I can get my hands on. Baking, sewing, and spending time with my friends and family fill out the rest of my free time. I also enjoy babysitting my beautiful niece and two adorable nephews.

I live in Warrenville with my parents, which allows me to save some money and concentrate on preparing for graduate school. I also love to travel. I’m always looking for somewhere new to go. I am planning two vacations in 2011; one to Michigan with friends and also to visit my boyfriend who is stationed in Texas.