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Tim and Robin (Nash) Campus
When Robin (Nash) Campus was in college, she took a child development course and fell in love with the field. “I decided that I either wanted to be the mom of 20 kids, or have a career in child development,” she said.
Now, as a mother of one daughter and the owner of her own private daycare center, Campus has found a way to have the best of both worlds.
Campus started caring for children at a young age. She and her younger sister were raised by her grandparents on a farm outside of Dublin. “At church I would watch kids in the nursery, and everybody was like, ‘You’re so good with them — you make them smile and play,’” Campus said. “I felt like a natural caregiver.”
She started making money on the weekends through babysitting, and when she graduated from Dublin High School in 2001, she went on to college at Baylor University in Waco to study child development. Halfway through she moved to Arlington and transferred to Tarrant County College, where she earned the certifications she would need to be a professional caregiver.
Campus graduated from college in 2006, and spent the next few years working odd jobs — mostly as a waitress. Through her waitressing, she met people who needed childcare. Slowly, she built up a clientele, and in 2014 she officially launched her own daycare center in her home.
The job is perfect for Campus because it means she gets to spend time with her daughter, Mia, who is 9, as well as other children. “It’s been going great for the last seven years,” she said. “I watch up to 15 kids.”
An average day starts early. “I wake up at six o’clock in the morning, get my first client at seven, and we eat breakfast, then go over ABCs,” she said. “I pretty much play with kids all day — we play Barbies, we play GI Joes, they teach me new things about what their parents do. My passion is mainly hands on, because kids learn through play. If they’re not playing they’re not learning, that’s how I look at it.”
She works at her daycare during the week, and keeps a waitressing job at Red Robin on the weekends, “just to have communication with anybody over the age of two,” she said.
In the future, Campus hopes to open up a larger daycare business, and earn certificates so that she can care for children with autism. “I just want to keep growing, and maybe open up my home for foster children,” she said. “I would love to help out anywhere I can.”
When she’s not working, Campus enjoys spending time with her husband, Tim Campus and her daughter Mia, and volunteering at her church in Arlington. She also likes shopping, traveling, and attending concerts.
Over the past nine years, Campus has drawn inspiration from her daughter. “When she first looked at me, I knew I was put on this earth to be a mom,” Campus said.
Her love for her family — and their love and support — has helped Campus navigate the hard times of her life. “I had breast cancer last year, and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my husband and daughter,” she said.
Campus’ advice for Dublin graduates is based on her own experience growing into herself. “My greatest challenge has been to stop worrying about what people think about me,” she said. “Do what you feel that God wants you to do, and what you think is right for yourself. Stop worrying about how to present yourself to the world. Everybody’s gonna have an opinion and it doesn’t matter what they think as long as you know it’s right. If it’s the road that you want to go down, go down it, and always trust your feelings in your heart.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.