Ramblin' Wreck from Rapid Tech
Six years.
Today marks six years since I started my official career when I had my first day as a program assistant in the Office of University Relations at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Since that day, I have moved up through three positions, eight desk locations, and will soon be working for my fifth president (including two interims).
Having only been separated from campus for the 2.5ish years between when I graduated with my bachelor’s degree from Mines and when I completed my master’s degree from the University of South Dakota, not much had changed when I returned as a staff member. A lot of faculty and staff I knew fairly well were still there. President Robert Wharton was still leading the charge. In fact, I had originally applied for a job in his office before I was poached by Christy Horn, who was the VP for University Relations at the time. I’ll always be grateful to her for seeing something in me and offering me a spot on her team. While she is no longer on campus, she has remained a great mentor to me all the way from Florida.
Less than a year after I became a staff member, tragedy struck with President Wharton’s sudden passing. It was a huge loss for campus, but if anything positive can be noted from that time period it is how well everyone came together to handle all of the critical needs in setting up the memorial service. It was definitely an all-hands-on-deck situation that required a meticulous attention to detail.
Dr. Duane Hrncir kept the ship floating as interim president (formerly the provost) during the search for President Wharton’s replacement. My favorite part of that time period was definitely getting to work more closely with Dr. Hrncir’s wife, Royia. She worked in a mentoring program when I was a student, so I had known her for several years. I’m sure Dr. Hrncir would say Royia was most people’s favorite part of his interim presidency, too. In fact, I’m pretty positive he really did say that at his farewell party.
President Heather Wilson joined us in 2013 as the first female president of SD Mines. She is the reason why I am still working at Mines. In the summer of 2016, I had been offered a job at another organization in town. When I told President Wilson I was going to be leaving campus, she came back with another offer for a new position in her office. I was honored she wanted to help me grow in my career, so I couldn’t turn her down. I was little bummed my time with her was cut short when she left for DC to become the Secretary of the Air Force this past May, but she has continued to be supportive of my future goals from her new post.
Dr. Puszynski, the VP for Research Affairs, now also serves as interim president. He has a great spirit about him and has been fun to work for these last few months. Between his Polish accent, our current provost Dr. Kouris’ Greek accent, and my co-worker Jahzeel’s Spanish accent, I feel severely ill-equipped in the international language department. I know Dr. P is counting down the days to when he can return to just having one job, but I’ll definitely miss working for him. Dr. Jim Rankin, who is a Mines alumnus and currently serves as the chief research officer and professor of electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas, will be taking the reins in January.
In addition to the change in presidents, there were many more memorable things that happened over the last six years.
Antonio Banderas came to campus as Nexus ambassador—never would’ve imagined I’d someday have lunch Zorro himself.
We had a record-setting blizzard the weekend of President Wilson’s inauguration and combined inauguration with Mines Medal at the last possible minute. Thanks, Atlas.
Ozzy Osbourne was in town the day we held our Cocktails + Chemistry fundraiser event. While he didn’t attend, it was still fun trying to get his attention via social media.
The science fair nearly doubled in size since I took over as director (read more about my love for the science fair here). One of the girls who qualified for the International Science & Engineering Fair placed third this year. And yes, I cried tears of joy when her teacher texted me from the awards ceremony. #STEMinist
I was named Outstanding Student Organization Advisor this past spring. My dance team girls are so awesome.
I hit the road this fall and visited some tribal high schools, including my alma mater. I’ll write more about this in a later post. Go Falcons!
Most recently, the floor of our building had a lip sync battle yesterday during our Thanksgiving potluck. Yes, Jahzeel and I performed to a Backstreet Boys song. And yes, we won. Shout out to our Registrar, Phil, for organizing the fun morale-booster.
I could go on and on about memorable events that have happened over the last six years, but let’s be real here. The most memorable thing about my time at Mines isn’t a singular event. It’s the people. My people. People who started out as colleagues, fellow alumni or students, but have grown to become great friends. You guys know who you are and I hope you know I’m thankful you have become a part of my life. You’re stuck with me forever, whether you like it or not.