June/July 2010 - Coulee Region Women's Magazine

PROFILELearning to Live AgainWhat a car accident took away, Connie Mettille has worked hard to regain.by Fran RybarikPHOTOS BY JANET MOOTZ PHOTOGRAPHYWork hard. Bekind. Be grateful.A p p r e c i a t e .Love. Achieve.Work harder.These were Connie Mettille’svalues, her life lessons, untilshe turned 38. Then, a terriblecar accident took away much ofwhat she’d taken for granted, andshe embarked on a new set oflessons—which included learningto walk and talk again.A fighting spiritAs the youngest of eightchildren, Mettille learnedindependence at an early age.“If I wanted to play a game withmy brothers and sisters, I had tokeep up. I never learned how toask for help,” Mettille recalls. If aproblem arose, her family workedto make it better. Blaming andwallowing were never part of hergrowing-up experience.She dreamed of teachingand coaching. After completingher undergraduate degree atWinona State University, shemoved westward to teach, coachand complete her post-graduatedegree.In 2001, Mettille returned toWinona as a professor in HealthSciences at Winona State. Herfamily all lived in the area, andshe could become part of theirregular gatherings again. Whenshe landed the head volleyballcoach position at the university,she thought all her dreams werecoming true.“If I could have skipped it, I would,” saysConnie Mettille of her accident. Butdetermination, perseverance and a fightingspirit have brought her back.www.crwmagazine.com JUNE/JULY 2010 11