By Luke Graham

Deborah Méndez-Wilson

It's been a long journey for Deborah Méndez-Wilson ('93).

When she began her freshman year at CU in 1976, she said, she wasn't ready for college. Instead of finishing her degree, she followed her boyfriend to Los Angeles and then to Venezuela.

After spending 10 years in Venezuela, where she got married and had a child, Méndez-Wilson said it was time to come back.

"It was an extraordinary experience, and I don't regret a moment of it," she said. "I taught English for several years and even worked as a journalist at an English-language daily newspaper in Caracas. To immerse myself in another language, other cultures and ways of life — it was the opportunity of a lifetime."

Méndez-Wilson, 47, news media specialist in the Office of Public Relations at the University of Colorado at Denver, CU Health Sciences Center and University of Colorado Hospital, returned to CU-Boulder in 1989 at age 30 "as a divorced, single mother with $500 in my pocket and two suitcases."

She admits it was a struggle being a nontraditional student, but she graduated with degrees in journalism and political science and became the first woman in her family to obtain a college degree.

After spending five years at The Associated Press honing her journalistic skills, she said she remarried and had another child. When the dot-com-telecom bust hit Colorado, Méndez-Wilson and her husband lost their jobs.

Once again, she was at a critical point in her life.

"It was an experience that forced us to re-evaluate our priorities and examine what it means to be successful in life," she said.

Méndez-Wilson discovered the world of public relations and has flourished, she said, spending two years working for the Colorado Division of Wildlife before moving to her current job.

"The career change has opened up a new avenue of unexpected opportunities. I love learning and evolving as a person and a writer," she said. "Now I'm immersed in the incredible world of medical research at the largest research institution in the Rocky Mountain region.

"I like the challenge of turning something really technical and complex into plain English," she said.

Having a reporter's background is the hardest and most fun parts of Méndez-Wilson's job. She said she has to try not to ask doctors or medical researchers questions when a journalist is interviewing them.

"My reporter instincts kick in, and I want to do the interviewing," she said.

Méndez-Wilson and her PR team won eight awards at the 2005 Colorado Health Care Communicators dinner. "It is gratifying to be part of a team of professional communicators who set such high standards," she said.

Méndez-Wilson lives in Highlands Ranch with her husband, Patrick Wilson, and their 7-year-old son. Her 25-year-old daughter works and lives in Denver. Deborah.Mendez-Wilson@UCHSC.edu