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Marrying Into A Blue Devil Family

Kimberly Blackshear would be buy courtside baskeball tickets if she won $5 million

A true-blue Duke family. Kim Blackshear poses with her husband, John, 16-year-old son Aki and baby Andwele. Photo courtesy of Kim Blackshear.
A true-blue Duke family. Kim Blackshear poses with her husband, John, 16-year-old son Aki and baby Andwele. Photo courtesy of Kim Blackshear.

Name: Kimberly Blackshear

Position: Program coordinator for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network

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Years at Duke: 2.5  

What I do at Duke: I help coordinate 73 affiliates across the United States for The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. This is a federally funded grant headquartered at Duke and the University of California, Los Angeles that helps organizations throughout the country that serve children and families that have experienced trauma. We help move evidence-based research and science into clinical practice by offering resources that we believe improve the standards of care. In addition to coordinating with affiliated individuals and institutions, I am also the data technician for the data and evaluation team.

My first paid job: I was a juvenile probation officer in Ohio while I was still in college.

The music I'm most likely to be caught listening to: In our house, we are definitely Prince fans. Our wedding song in 2009 was "Adore."

When I'm not at work, I like to: Watch sports. When my husband John and I first started dating, we decided we had to come up with an official household team for every sport because we are very passionate fans. We knew we would get on each other's nerves if we weren't cheering for the same team. Andwele, our baby, came home on Nov. 2, 2011 with Duke booties on and wears his Duke outfit for every game. We even took him and his 16-year-old brother to the NCAA men's basketball tournament this year in Greensboro.

What I love about Duke: Besides the sports, I love the expertise at Duke. One reason I wanted to work here was to grow professionally and be around intelligent people so their intelligence can rub off on me.

The best advice I've received: Don't sweat the small stuff. My mother used to say it often, but I pay more attention when my husband says it. Now that I'm a new mother, when I start fretting over the color of a flier, I think of raising a child, and that puts things into perspective.

If I could have one superpower it would be: The ability to heal people.

If I had $5 million I would: Set up a trust fund for my kids and buy courtside tickets for Duke basketball.

My dream job: To be a seventh-grade algebra teacher. I've worked with lots of children and I see that seventh grade is where they all either excelled or plummeted in math, and that set the tone for the rest of their math careers. It is vital to have a really good seventh-grade algebra teacher who can understand the rigors of math but can also deal with the hormones and the transition these kids deal with.

My pet peeve: Coats thrown on the back of dining room chairs.

Something most people don't know about me: I was a tomboy growing up, but I still wore dresses every day until the end of my 5th grade year.