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Published on February 12th, 2015 | by Alex Conover

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Graduate student defies odds and authors children’s bookEvery graduate student needs perseverance to make it through their studies. Wendy Muhlhauser’s drive is fueled by more than 20 years of defying the odds.In 1992, Muhlhauser was a pedestrian in New York City when she was hit by a car. The accident resulted in a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and Muhlhauser has endured four concussions since, which have resulted in seizures and other side effects.

Through careful recovery, after the accident, Muhlhauser has served as a teacher and operated a business that helped implement drama in classrooms to encourage mental and creative growth. After 18 years, Muhlhauser dissolved her business to focus on a longtime goal: writing and publishing a children’s book. After researching various graduate programs, she found that she could join the highly customizable Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Master of Arts in Human Development programand complete her book as part of the coursework. It was a perfect fit.

As part of the human development program, Muhlhauser met with her adviser Lee Truer and mapped out an academic plan. It was decided that the first part of her independent study would be creating and publishing the book, and the second part would be marketing and promotion.

Hours of work followed. Muhlhauser refined a story she had written in 2011, drawing elements from her time in Tanzania during a 2007 Edina Rotary Club trip that worked on a clean water project. She then enlisted a team of interns from local colleges and high schools, finding young people skilled in illustrating, marketing, and social media.

“I was absolutely bowled over by the enormous amount of work that Wendy successfully completed for the start of her human development degree,” Truer said. “What she researched and set into motion would be impressive for anyone, but even more so when you add in how she juggled new employment, sending a child off to college, and being a person with a TBI. It was a very ambitious academic contract.”

Kind words and support from Truer and other Saint Mary’s faculty members helped Muhlhauser earn an Evert Scholarship along with a sponsorship from the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which helped with tuition. After an arduous process, Muhlhauser realized her dream in November 2014 when her bookJelly Beans the Cheetah and Hope was published by Beaver Pond Press.

“The cheetah, instead of self-absorbing, gives love out and serves with true confidence and boldness,” Muhlhauser said of the aptly named Jelly Beans, who sports multicolored spots after a local villager jokingly colors his fur with markers. “That’s how he finds his wholeness. Similarly, as a person with a disability, I don’t focus on the seizures, I don’t focus on the migraines. I focus on child development and serving, giving kids what they need.”

Now that the book has been published and is selling well—already in its second printing —Muhlhauser is fulfilling the final part of her independent study: marketing her book and her “SissyMarySue” pen name through book signings, networking, blogging, and social media.

As her dream unfolds, she can’t help but think of how supportive Saint Mary’s has been along the way and how much she looks forward to commencement in 2016.

“Their belief in me, the support for the messages of the book, they’ve helped in every way,” Muhlhauser said of the Saint Mary’s human development program faculty. “I can’t say enough about the help from Saint Mary’s, it’s been beautiful at every stage. When I received that kind of support, with that came increased confidence. It was invaluable to have people recognize my drive and my perseverance.”

For more information on Saint Mary’s Master of Arts in Human Development degree, visit the program page.

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Tags: Advanced Degree, Featured, SGPP, Twin Cities Campus

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