Middle school students pack Missouri S&T’s Leach Theatre to hear alumna Alexandra Butler give an inspirational talk as part of the university’s STEM Exploration Day.
Twenty years after graduating from Missouri University of Science and Technology, Alexandra Butler returned to her alma mater in Rolla to share her inspirational story with middle school students during Missouri S&T’s STEM Exploration Day on May 7.
Butler, an Atlanta resident originally from St. Louis, earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering management with a minor in industrial psychology from S&T in 2005. She told the audience that she first planned to major in electrical engineering, but then learned about engineering management and knew it was a better fit with her outgoing personality.
“You guys will see when you get to college that you may end up changing your mind, and that’s totally okay,” she says. “You’re going to have an idea of what you want to do, but as you go through life, you’re going to kind of change those things. And that’s totally okay.”
After college graduation, Butler started work in industrial roles as she had planned.
She shared with the audience a pivotal moment: when she asked a coworker if he loved his job, he replied that no adult loved what they did.
“To me, that just didn’t make any sense,” she says. “As a young adult, I vowed to myself that never, ever, ever would I do anything that I was not passionate about, that I did not love to do.”
Butler discovered her passion as a makeup artist in 2008. She moved to Atlanta and started working at a MAC Cosmetics makeup counter while networking with people in the entertainment business. Using business lessons learned from her college degree, she ended up launching her own business as a celebrity makeup artist.
“I talk about passion a lot,” she says. “Passion is something that you love to do, that you’re excited about, something that you wake up and you cannot wait to do – that’s usually what your passion is. It starts out as a hobby most times.”
Throughout her career, Butler has done makeup for celebrities like Viola Davis, Katerina Graham and Da Brat. She’s worked on TV shows, including “Vampire Diaries” and “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” traveled the world as Missy Elliott’s personal makeup artist, working on a Pepsi commercial for the Superbowl, and taught makeup classes throughout the country.
On the surface, she seemed to have it all in high school, Butler says. She was smart, made good friends and was athletic. But at home, her hero – her father – was struggling with addiction.
“Drug abuse is something that affects families through and through,” she says. “It was something that affected my family. It was something that tore our family apart. And as a young kid in middle school and high school, it was something that was hard to deal with, because my father wasn’t there, so I had to kind of step up as a kid to help my mother get through things, and to be kind of that leading force for my brother.”
Butler said she thought it was important to share her family’s struggles, because there were likely children in the audience going through similar situations or living difficult home lives.
“It’s so important to make sure that you stay focused and not let those things personally affect you, because it really sometimes doesn’t have anything to do with you,” she told the audience. “Most of the time, it’s something that’s outside of you. Always stay focused and make sure that you stay in school and be that good kid.”
Butler worked during high school to help support her family and pay for her activities, like class trips and having senior pictures taken.
Her college decision came down to only two choices, she said: Missouri S&T or Georgia Institute of Technology.
Visiting S&T as part of the university’s minority education program helped seal the deal for her.
“I knew that I had to come to the school, and I’m so glad that I did,” she says.
Butler not only achieved her educational goals at S&T, but she made lifelong friendships and met her husband, DeMario. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business and management systems from S&T in 2006.
Looking back, she says she’s proud of her decisions.
“Never be afraid to pursue your passion. That’s the main goal that I want to set today,” she said at the conclusion of her speech. “Always finish school. Always finish what you start. Persevere. Push through, keep a good crowd of people around you, make sure that you stay positive and always know that if you change up and you want to do something, you can always change up.”
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