Posted 2:07 p.m. Friday, July 31, 2015
She sang for arguably one of the most important moments in UWL history. Not only that, she sang publically after months of adapting to new challenges brought on by a neurological disorder that caused her memory loss and anxiety in public.
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UWL Alumna Barbara Martin-Stanley, ‘06, sang the national anthem and said the Pledge of Allegiance during President Barack Obama’s visit to campus Thursday, July 2.[/caption]
Barbara Martin-Stanley earned her Master of Education Professional Development degree from UWL in 2006. She graduated from Smith College in 1979. Here she is pictured with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, another Smith College graduate, at the presidential event.[/caption]
By Monday morning, the suggestion of singing for a presidential visit didn’t seem so far fetched. The news had spread about Obama’s visit to UWL on Thursday. Martin-Stanley, who had traveled to the president’s first inauguration in Washington, D.C., and also had a front-row seat to his downtown La Crosse campaign visit in 2008, was excited at the prospect of singing before the president. But she still hadn’t heard if she was chosen or still being considered. As Tuesday and Wednesday passed, she assumed they’d found someone else.
Then, Wednesday evening she got another email from Knudson wondering if the White House staff had contacted her yet. Later that evening, Knudson informed her that she’d been chosen to sing, and asked if she’d lead “The Pledge of Allegiance” as well.
“Barbara has an incredible voice, and she can sing without instrumentation, which we knew we wouldn’t have,” says Knudson. “She is confident and comfortable enough in leading it, we thought she could do it on short-term notice. She’s also been a committed, loyal part of UWL community for a number of years.”
Wednesday evening, Martin-Stanley received the official call from the White House, apologizing for the late notice and asking if she’d be willing to sing.
“I was trying to be calm,” she recalls.
Inside, Martin-Stanley was so excited at the turn of events and the honor of singing at such an important moment. “Like I’m going to have something else on my calendar?,” she says. “I said, ‘I’d be honored.’”
And as she sat in her reserved seat waiting to sing before the president’s arrival that Thursday, Martin-Stanley didn’t feel anxiety she had in the past. Instead, she felt blessed. She asked God to use her voice to inspire hope, faith and patriotism.
She remembers thinking she had come full circle.
“I watched her walk in and walk up to that podium. It was so amazing to me that she seemed so calm and centered. She got up to that microphone and just nailed it,” says UWL Interim Provost Betsy Morgan. “And, you could tell by the crowd’s response that they were impressed too."
Morgan has walked some of the journey with Martin-Stanley after her MCI diagnosis. “It felt like a personal, professional and emotional milestone for her,” says Morgan.
Martin-Stanley calls the experience “one of the most blessed days of my life.”
She says MCI was taking away a part of who she was, but it doesn’t have to be that way. She can still do the things she loves like sing even if there are times when it’s uncomfortable. The experience inspired her to continue to move forward living life one day at a time, keeping those new vocabulary words — simplify, routinize and structure — in check.
“I’ve learned that everyone lives with uncertainty. None of us know what will happen tomorrow,” she says. “That’s brought me to the point I’m at now. I’m living my life. If I have a bad day, I have a bad day and I just keep on rolling — learning how to live through them.”
UWL Alumna Barbara Martin-Stanley, ‘06, sang the national anthem and said the Pledge of Allegiance during President Barack Obama’s visit to campus Thursday, July 2.[/caption]
Experience is a turning point in dealing with memory disorder
Barbara Martin-Stanley, ’06, sat in her reserved seat in UW-La Crosse’s Recreational Eagle Center waiting to sing the national anthem in front of about 2,400 people. She’d sung “The Star-Spangled Banner” dozens of times for crowds large and small, but this time it was different. She’d be singing for arguably one of the most important moments in UWL history — a visit from President Barack Obama Thursday, July 2, the first sitting president ever to visit campus. Not only that, she’d be singing publically after months of adapting to new challenges brought on by a neurological disorder that caused her memory loss and anxiety in public. Martin-Stanley calls it a “miracle” and “a God thing” that she was able to step up on stage and perform that day. “I never thought I’d be able to sing the national anthem in front of all those people,” she explained after her performance. “That was truly a blessing from God.”Coping with a new disorder, new way of life
Only six months before her performance, Martin-Stanley was coming to grips with the neurological disorder, Mild Cognitive Impairment, she was diagnosed with in June 2014. A disorder that sometimes leads to Dementia, would leave her “stuck” in moments as her memory searched for a way out. She’d lose words mid-sentence or forget what she was doing mid-task — sometimes as long as ten minutes. It caused anxiety and depression. It meant simplifying life by stepping down from advising a UWL student group, ending service on two community boards, changing jobs within UWL and taking a month for family medical leave. It also meant a halt to one of her favorite hobbies. After singing the national anthem at a UWL basketball game in November 2014, the crowd applauded and Martin-Stanley knew it had went well. But the anxiety inside her was building even after she sang. As she left that night in her car, she had a mini-melt down. “MCI is such a memory thing that I didn’t know if I would remember the words,” she says. “I didn’t want to embarrass myself and the school.” She decided that basketball game would be her last public singing appearance. Over the months that followed Martin-Stanley continued with medical treatment to reduce the symptoms of MCI, which has no cure. Her neurologist recommended three steps: create structure, routinize and simplify. “If you know Barbara Martin-Stanley, ‘structure, routinize and simplify’ was not in my vocabulary,” she says. “I was involved in anything and everything, and now I felt like I was in this little box.” It was particularly difficult because Martin-Stanley had always had an extraverted personality. “I’ve always been someone who loves people,” she says. “As this was beginning to develop, I couldn’t be around people. It was difficult for me to even be around students for awhile.”A turning point
Martin-Stanley was practicing a new way of living with her disorder when she got an email from Music Professor Gary Walth Monday, June 22, asking out of the blue if she’d sing for a La Crosse Loggers game the following Saturday night. It was a venue where she’d never sung before and she hadn’t sung publically in six months. “My husband and I prayed about it,” says Martin-Stanley. “We decided, let’s simplify, routinize and structure — and go to the game.” She showed up on the third base line that night with the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner” tucked in one pocket and ear plugs in the other in case of any feedback. She didn’t need either. To her surprise, she wasn’t nervous at all. “It was beautiful. People came up to me afterwards shaking my hand,” she says. The next morning, Martin-Stanley got an email from UWL Dean Paula Knudson explaining a “historic figure” was coming to campus and asking if she could submit Martin-Stanley’s name as one of three people to potentially sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” for the event. Martin-Stanley puzzled over the reference to a “historic figure.” She assumed maybe a special visit from a UWL alum. Her husband, Charles, suggested maybe President Barack Obama, who he had heard was coming to the area. “I didn’t believe that,” recalls Martin-Stanley.Singing for a historic moment
[caption id="attachment_4871" align="alignright" width="802"] Barbara Martin-Stanley earned her Master of Education Professional Development degree from UWL in 2006. She graduated from Smith College in 1979. Here she is pictured with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, another Smith College graduate, at the presidential event.[/caption]
By Monday morning, the suggestion of singing for a presidential visit didn’t seem so far fetched. The news had spread about Obama’s visit to UWL on Thursday. Martin-Stanley, who had traveled to the president’s first inauguration in Washington, D.C., and also had a front-row seat to his downtown La Crosse campaign visit in 2008, was excited at the prospect of singing before the president. But she still hadn’t heard if she was chosen or still being considered. As Tuesday and Wednesday passed, she assumed they’d found someone else.
Then, Wednesday evening she got another email from Knudson wondering if the White House staff had contacted her yet. Later that evening, Knudson informed her that she’d been chosen to sing, and asked if she’d lead “The Pledge of Allegiance” as well.
“Barbara has an incredible voice, and she can sing without instrumentation, which we knew we wouldn’t have,” says Knudson. “She is confident and comfortable enough in leading it, we thought she could do it on short-term notice. She’s also been a committed, loyal part of UWL community for a number of years.”
Wednesday evening, Martin-Stanley received the official call from the White House, apologizing for the late notice and asking if she’d be willing to sing.
“I was trying to be calm,” she recalls.
Inside, Martin-Stanley was so excited at the turn of events and the honor of singing at such an important moment. “Like I’m going to have something else on my calendar?,” she says. “I said, ‘I’d be honored.’”
And as she sat in her reserved seat waiting to sing before the president’s arrival that Thursday, Martin-Stanley didn’t feel anxiety she had in the past. Instead, she felt blessed. She asked God to use her voice to inspire hope, faith and patriotism.
She remembers thinking she had come full circle.
“I watched her walk in and walk up to that podium. It was so amazing to me that she seemed so calm and centered. She got up to that microphone and just nailed it,” says UWL Interim Provost Betsy Morgan. “And, you could tell by the crowd’s response that they were impressed too."
Morgan has walked some of the journey with Martin-Stanley after her MCI diagnosis. “It felt like a personal, professional and emotional milestone for her,” says Morgan.
Martin-Stanley calls the experience “one of the most blessed days of my life.”
She says MCI was taking away a part of who she was, but it doesn’t have to be that way. She can still do the things she loves like sing even if there are times when it’s uncomfortable. The experience inspired her to continue to move forward living life one day at a time, keeping those new vocabulary words — simplify, routinize and structure — in check.
“I’ve learned that everyone lives with uncertainty. None of us know what will happen tomorrow,” she says. “That’s brought me to the point I’m at now. I’m living my life. If I have a bad day, I have a bad day and I just keep on rolling — learning how to live through them.”