Dr. Darria Long Gillespie, who graduated from Bright in 1990, is an ER doctor, frequent guest on CNN and now a bestselling author of Mom Hacks. She wrote this book after realizing parents, particularly mothers, seemed to be stuck with the idea that they can't change their situation or life enough to be healthy, eat better, and sleep more. "As an ER doctor, I felt like I could handle anything. Then, I became a mom," Dr. Darria said. She is the mother of a 5 year old and a 2 year old. 

She spoke to parents on Tuesday and encouraged them to choose just a small thing to change that will make a difference. One hack that involves feeling more awake, is to use bright light as soon as you wake up in the morning to reset your body clock. Another hack is to dim the lights as you prepare for bed. Use lightbulbs on your beside table, for instance, that are 30 watts or less and reduce your exposure to blue light, which suppresses melantonin. Dr. Darria provided other hacks about eating better and avoiding temptations of sweets and for exercising even just seven minutes a day.

Dr. Darria said she was glad to return to Bright and talked about her fifth grade play and being able to name all her teachers.

Signed copies of Mom Hacks are available in the office for $10. For more information, visit https://drdarria.com/.