The Bulletin

What are you most looking forward in this academic year? 

My favorite time of the academic year is welcome week. I always look forward to this time of year because the new students are arriving to campus and excited about all of the possibilities that await them. The delightful element about meeting and welcoming the new students is that there is such a variety of students to meet. It includes first-year, transfer, graduate, and professional students, and the list goes on. Of course, as a programmer, I am always busy during welcome week. However, I find great joy in the beginning of the academic year. 

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned working in the profession?

One of the biggest lessons that I have learned working in the profession is to trust the process. Often, people second guess the opportunities that are presented to them and/or have doubt in the necessary steps to take next. However, I find that if time is taken to simply trust the process, things will begin to happen in the way that they are intended to happen. This lesson had more meaning to me after being a small group facilitator for I-LEAD® 2015 at Colorado Mesa University. That experience was such a defining moment as a new professional. I appreciate having the opportunity to participate and share those moments with colleagues and students. 

Describe a memorable day on the job.

I serve as one of the advisors for the Ohio Union Activities Board (OUAB) at Ohio State. During the Fall 2015 semester, the organization planned a haunted house. Throughout the process of planning, it was realized that a permit would be needed for this event. Seeing that I was becoming somewhat skilled in submitting permit applications for the OUAB concerts, I did not think that this process would be any different. I was wrong. I recall several email exchanges and phone calls to make sure that the appropriate supporting documents were included in the permit application. I can recall driving to get to the location to deliver the check and permit application before the deadline. Thankfully, I made it just in time (five minutes before the location closed), and the event was able to happen (more than 500 students came through the haunted house). There was a level of nervousness and excitement that I was feeling during that 15-minute drive to deliver the check and application that I had not experienced previously.  

What is one project or innovation you’re proud to have helped implement?

For OUAB event ticket releases, we work closely with our colleagues in the BuckID office to ensure that our ID readers are reset for each ticket release in order to retrieve student data information and monitor the amount of tickets being distributed per student. Last year, I worked to implement a ticket release calendar to share with my colleagues so that there was a schedule in place that stated exact dates/times for our ID readers to be reset. This calendar was helpful to my colleagues, and I received positive feedback regarding it.