Lorraine Perez was born and raised in the Bronx…home of the
New York Yankees. She moved to Virginia when she was fourteen years old and
graduated from Denbigh High School in Newport News, Va. In 2000, Lorraine
married her current husband of 12 years and spent the next few years as a stay at
home mom to her two children and a student at Tidewater Community
College-Portsmouth Campus.
During her time at TCC Lorraine was a student representative
of the Student Government Association Federation and president of Phi Theta
Kappa Chi-Mu Chapter. In less than six
months Lorraine transformed Chi-Mu from a dormant chapter to one of the most
active organizations within the campus and school. She worked with the
administration on several projects including the re-opening of the Welcome
Center and was a peer educator for the Tutoring Department.
She received several awards and recognitions including a
service award from Tidewater Community College, a merit scholarship from
William E. Wood Real Estate Agency and an International Service award from Phi
Theta Kappa. She was also part of the All Virginia Academic Team and was
nominated to compete for the 2004 graduation speaker position (she came in
runner-up).
Her love for non-profits was ignited as she worked closely with
organizations such as the American Red Cross, The American Heart Association,
Save-the Bay Foundation and the Hope House of Virginia Beach. However, the American
Cancer Society held nearest to the chapter’s heart as they participated in
several of their events including Picture-a-Cure and Relay for Life. After
graduation, Lorraine continued to work for Tidewater Community College as the
Assistant Student Activities Coordinator at the Norfolk Campus where her role
consisted of creating and implementing programs designed to enhance the college
experience of current students and promote the school to potential students.
Lorraine served as team leader for the entire campus during Norfolk’s very
first Relay for Life event and even worked with TCC’s creative team to create a
t-shirt designed for the cause. She served as the Phi Theta Kappa Orientation
Coordinator and occasional advisor to the Student Government Association.
Eventually, Lorraine moved on to pursue her Bachelors in
Science degree in Organizational Leadership and Management at Regent
University. Prior to graduation, Lorraine started working for the Chair of the
Organizational Leadership and Management department until after a very short
time was offered a temporary position as the Executive Assistant to the Dean of
Undergraduate Studies, the Director of Operations and the Associate Dean of
Administration and Enrollment. In this role, Lorraine worked primarily as a
marketing assistant to the Dean of Administration and Enrollment where she
created insertion orders, served as a copy-editor/writer and event coordinator
as well as assisted the dean in his undertaking of a multi-million dollar
marketing campaign.
Once the assignment was complete Lorraine moved on to work
in other higher education institutions including ECPI College of Technology
until she realized that her children needed her at home so that they could
pursue their own ambitions. Rather than be a strictly stay at home mom Lorraine
decided to put her writing skills to use and began to work freelance with local
publication such as The Norfolk Examiner Online and the Raven Maria Blanco Foundation. Lorraine has always had it in the back on her mind to write a book one day, however, she always assumed it would be related to higher education, management and/or leadership. Yet, one day while Lorraine was home she was visited by a dear friend who told Lorraine of certain marital issues she was having. Filled with emotion, once her friend left, Lorraine found herself in front of the computer creating what turned out to be the first few sentence of a working novel. She has never put down the pen...or keyboard since.
Although she had over seven years of higher education
experience Lorraine realized that her passion was not only education but
creative writing and marketing. She made the decision to pursue her Masters in Science degree in
Integrated Marketing Communications at West Virginia University where she is
receiving practical knowledge in Marketing Research and Analysis, Creative
Strategy & Execution, Mobile and Social Media Marketing in addition to many
others. She is hoping to graduate by 2014.
She loves spending time with her family, traveling, writing,
reading and dabbling in photography when possible.
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