A Life of Service: Alum Spotlight on Tomeca Yancey ’25

Retirement wasn't all it was cracked up to be for Tomeca Yancey. Picture it: It's the height of Covid in 2020. She's just come off of a career as a Major in the Army-working in intelligence. "My primary specialty was Cyber Operations and Source Operations, which included interrogations and debriefings," Yancey says. She'd worked with security forces and commands such as US Special Operations Command, US Cyber Command, US Army Cyber Command, and US Army Intelligence and Security Command.

"I was fortunate enough to get to work at the National Security Agency (NSA) and got to do some really cool things in the process," she says. "My short resume answer to what I did in the Army is always, 'Collected, collated, evaluated, interpreted, and disseminated information on enemy threats and potential courses of action in support of national security operations.'"

She enjoyed the work and the people she worked with. "It was my privilege to serve, especially knowing that what I did had a purpose," she says.

But back to 2020, and retirement. After almost 13 years, Yancey had finished her work with the Army, and had certainly earned some R and R. But the unstructured life didn't suit. "I tried to enjoy retirement, but with nothing open and nowhere really to go"-this was during the pandemic, remember-"I was bored to death," she recalls.

Yancey had gone from being constantly on the go to being basically stagnant. Then she had an idea. "I decided to use my G.I. Bill to go back to school."

And that's how she came to TLU in January of 2021. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to study at that point. She'd already earned her BS back in 2002, in psychology and sociology. She took a few science classes, thinking she might want to become an optometrist. "But a chance run-in with Professor Hicks (that is, Professor Rebecca Hicks, in TLU's Business Department) changed my idea of what would challenge me, and I opted to pursue accounting."

As a veteran, Yancey enjoyed Freedom Hall (TLU's veteran lounge) and served as treasurer for the VAST (Veterans and Society Together) organization on campus. "I made some great connections during my time there, many of whom will be lifelong friends, so there is nothing more that I could ask TLU for."

After graduating this past spring with her master's in accountancy, Yancey was offered a position with Ernst and Young, one of the "Big Four" accounting firms. She'd interned with them while still at TLU. But before she stepped into that new career, she had a change of heart. She did some soul searching, and realized she wasn't ready to go back to a desk job.

"My degree from TLU definitely propelled me to being offered the position in the first place," she says. "The education that I received there actually had me with a full-time offer of employment before my internship was even completed."

But instead of going to work at the firm, she struck out for the open road, and freedom. "Currently, I am just a professional traveler," she says. But that's not where her story ends; in fact, it's just beginning.

"Next year will be my new awakening," she says. "I plan on spending the majority of my time volunteering and giving back to the local community."

This is nothing new for Yancey. In addition to serving her country in the Army, she's served in many other capacities as well. For instance, she ran a runaway and homeless youth shelter. She mentored at-risk youth. She worked as a counselor at a juvenile jail. "I intend to get back into that realm because it provided me with a lot of spiritual and emotional fulfillment."

Even during her time at TLU, she showed herself to be a committed servant-leader. "While studying at TLU, I had the opportunity to volunteer with a women's shelter and the food bank, but I know that I can be doing so much more. Whether it's through someone else's organization or me starting a non-profit myself to help the community, I know that my future starts and ends with that type of service and philanthropic action."

So, there's no retirement on the horizon anytime soon-or maybe ever-for Tomeca Yancey. Only new calls to service, new inspiration to lend a hand, and new ways to make a difference.