Remi Harper
Student
By Joe Torres
Contributing Writer
From the “Friday night lights” of the football field sidelines to shifting toward the colorful, handmade world of cosplay, life has been a performance for Remi Harper.
She balances a full-time course load, a part-time job and serves as president of the Brookhaven Anime Club.
The daughter of a cheerleading instructor and a football coach, Harper was raised on the gridiron. Even with a lengthy career as a cheerleader that lasted 14 years, her experience was often overshadowed by people’s mental image of the traditional beauty standards for cheerleading.
“I was pushed to the side a lot or wasn’t respected because I technically wasn’t pretty or visually pleasing compared to my other captain,” Harper said.
Despite these challenges, Harper found her calling in the mission of the sport: to uplift others. “Cheerleading was my escape from reality,” she said. “I just focused on the game and making sure everyone else had a good time.”
She brought with her the desire to support others at Brookhaven in the Fall 2024 semester. Fashion design has been a lifelong passion, she found a natural outlet in the craft of cosplay — the practice of dressing up as a fictional character.
After her handmade costume won a campus cosplay contest, she joined the anime club. This led to her rise as president of the club to make sure the group remained thriving and active.
The energy of cheerleading linked to the theatrical nature of cosplay for Harper. Her talents in sewing and performing earned her a guest spot in a “My Little Pony” pop-up event, where she built a costume of one of the characters, Pinkie Pie, in two weeks.
Harper looks forward to transferring to the University of North Texas in 2027 as she continues her degree in fashion. She said she wants to leave behind a community where her fellow students can be as extra as they want without fear of ridicule.
“I want to leave behind a community that supports each other the way a team does,” Remi said.
Faculty
By Georgia Dunn
Contributing Writer
The grating sounds of drilling and sanding are almost deafening standing outside of Brookhaven’s sculpture studio. Professor Natalie Macellaio sits peacefully inside, unfazed. Wearing a silver necklace and a leaf-like set of earrings she made herself. Her dimpled smile and twinkling eyes evoke a striking sense of calm that sharply contrasts against the
abrasive soundscape of grinding machinery.
She has clearly grown accustomed to the noisy atmosphere after teaching many classes, and her voice remains steady as she details her experience as an educator at Brookhaven.
After earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Eastern Illinois University, she moved south to pursue another master’s in jewelry metalsmithing at the University of North Texas. She was initially uninterested in teaching, but after trying it as an graduate, she discovered her love for connecting with students.
She said that now, being in the classroom is her favorite thing. “For me it’s what motivates me to keep going, being here,” Macellaio said.
She taught all around the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but for her, no other campus compared to Brookhaven. She says she always knew she wanted to end up here full-time.
Shes had many student success stories here, and recently took a class in Mexico City to work with a prior student who, after securing a full ride to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and teaching at various universities, runs a 3D printing company there.
Macellaio said her proudest moments are seeing students succeed. “I think that’s the whole point of our job,” she said.
In the present, Macellaio’s professional schedule alternates daily, she can balance open studios as well as in-person and online classes.
She appreciates the excitement the variation brings. “Yeah, it’s fun. You know, I feel very fortunate,” Macellaio said.
Outside of school, she spends most of her time with her 14-year-old twins, one son and one daughter. She also runs, bakes and coaches her son’s soccer team.
She is excited about her upcoming event, The Dallas Pottery Invitational, where she will sell her handmade jewelry and said everyone is welcome to attend.
Staff
By Oliver Camu
Music Editor
Whether she is providing a routine meningitis vaccine or being the first responder to a medical emergency on campus, every day looks different for Mekha Kalloor, the current nurse on staff at Dallas College Brookhaven.
Dressed in her recognizable blue scrubs and sporting a warm smile, she is prepared to deal with anything that comes through the Health Center.
“Every day is a different day,” Kalloor said. “Some days I come in here and there’s a line of students.” Sometimes it is helping students with medical questions, other times she is tending wounds. “You just use your nursing judgement to kind of go through the day and take one patient at a time,” she said.
In addition to administering medical help, Kalloor finds fulfillment in student connections. “I really honestly like talking to students and just helping them navigate their health,” Kalloor said. “I think as young adults, like when I was younger, I would always ask my parents stuff, but it’s really nice to empower young adults to tell them that they have a right to fair healthcare.”
Before her role as Brookhaven’s first line of medical defense, she graduated from West Coast University in 2017. She later started at Texas Health in the residency program where she relocated and settled into her job at Texas Health Paris Methodist in downtown Fort Worth.
She gained a lot of experience from her job there, diversifying her skills. “I liked a little bit of everything,” Kalloor said. “That includes general surgery, plastics, neuro, trauma, urology, gynecology, vascular, cardiac. Everything you can think of, I did.”
Throughout her career, she worked in every space her passion brought her to. After leaving a position in UT Southwestern in Dallas, she found herself in Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso where she treated patients who were injured on the border. “It was very eye-opening,” Kalloor said.
After burning out from the high intensity work she was putting herself through, she decided to take a break.
“I started looking into what I can do in nursing that is actually interesting, but not so heavy lifting,” Kalloor said. She found the job listing online in her search and liked the idea of working as a nurse at a college.
“There are challenging days, there are days that I am really busy, but I love it,” Kalloor said. “I get to interact with students, I get to help shape students’ futures.”
