Twenty-nine years later

 What's the secret to working for the same company for 29 years? Loving your job and who you work with.

            “I love helping students find what they need,” said Fran Garrison, one of the librarians at North Hall Library, “Especially when it's something hard to find. It's like a treasure hunt for me and it's such a great feeling when you've found what a student needs to do well.”

            Hailing from Southern Virginia, Fran joined the staff at Mansfield's library after graduation from library school in Nashville.

            “I had job offers from Macon, GA and Mansfield. I came to interview here for the experience and had no intention of coming here, but I loved the people here and I decided to take the job. They were so kind and sincere that I fell in love with the place. At first I was only going to stay for two or three years, but I met my husband who is from the area and Mansfield really became home.”

            Fran's first position was as the education librarian which she found appealing because her undergraduate degree was in elementary education. Twenty-nine years later, she has many more academic areas that she is responsible for. Fran over-sees the library resources for: education, school library sciences, psychology, communication, philosophy and music. While she's not a specialist in many of the areas, she always does her best to find what students need.

            Fran's advice for students is something that we hear a lot from professors, but it has a new meaning coming from someone who many of us don't see every day. She said, “Get involved, and not just in campus organizations. Get involved in class, get to know your professors and utilize the resources available to you like the learning center, writing center and the library. Not only do we want to help you and see you succeed, but all of those things contribute to your success.”

How Does That Make You Feel?

         

The end of the semester is slowly creeping up on all of us. The past few weeks and the weeks to come are arguably the most stressful weeks of the semester, especially for those of us who are graduating. The stress of trying to find full-time employment and the high amount of work that needs to be completed for class is starting to take its toll.

            Luckily for MU students, when the going gets a little too tough to handle, the counseling center on campus is available for us if we need it. Jolene Meisner started as a temporary counselor at Mansfield in 2008, filling in when other employees were out on medical leave. She is now a full-time staff member who I would recommend to any student on campus.

            I personally have never utilized the counseling center, but Jolene made me feel comfortable the moment we walked into her office. We chatted first about me and what my career goals are and then we flowed into an interesting, yet brief conversation about social media and the effects it has had on society. While the banter only lasted a few minutes, I felt instantly at ease with Jolene and may have told her my deepest thoughts.

            I learned that Jolene and I shared a similar love for Mansfield which is something I’ll miss terribly in the fall.

            “The scenery is beautiful here, and for me Mansfield is close to home.” Jolene said, “I’m originally from Millerton and I did my undergrad here so it was nice to be closer to home when I took the temporary position.”

            Jolene stressed that the counseling center is an incredibly positive place despite that stigma that students may have based on the name.

            “I came to Mansfield from an in-patient facility in Elmira. While I enjoyed working there, the environment in the counseling center is incredibly positive even though some of the students we see are sometimes at their worst. What we are able to do here as counselors is to help them see their potential and blossom. It’s a challenging job but it’s very exciting for me when I get to see that happen.”

            I spent about 45 minutes with Jolene from start to finish and even though it was a short period of time, she left me feeling ready to tackle the rest of the semester and to make the best of the few weeks I have left.

            “Really take in all that college has to offer,” Jolene said as advice she offers to students, “Never again will it be so easy to socialize and to be with friends.”

From L to R: RHA Winter Formal 2010,
My friend Fenna, from the Netherlands, and me enjoying lunch in Stockholm, Sweden, 
COM Day 2013

You've Got Mail

            I grew up in a small town very similar to Mansfield in New York state. During high school, my family moved back to Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia but over the past five years, Mansfield has become my home. Edgard “Gardy” Domench, head of mail services at MU moved here in 1991 from Puerto Rico and for the past 22 years, Mansfield University and the  community have been his home.

            “My move here was originally going to be short term but now Mansfield is my home.” Gardy, told me many times. “ I applied to work at the university once a week for six months. My first job here was as a custodian and then I began working in the mailroom part time. I had never thought of a career in mail services.”

            When I first came to Mansfield, I was a student in the biology program never thinking of a career in a communication field. I even remember laughing when Communication Department chair, Dr. K. Sue Young, said I would fit in well with the department. My meeting with her was only to get paperwork signed for a course approval for my semester abroad.

            I studied in Finland, a small Scandinavian nation of only 5.5 million. Yes, the entire country has fewer people than Manhattan!

            “I’m an outsider,” Gardy said, referring to the fact he immigrated to the US from Puerto Rico, “But I always feel welcome here. Mansfield is a little family, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know people from all departments on campus and that’s something special.”

            Gardy also earned a degree here in 2002. Mail services is a department that serves everyone on campus. They’re the middle man for letters and packages for campus and they deliver to all offices and academic buildings as well as service to all students.

            “We just transitioned to a central mailroom on campus but it seems to be working well.” Gardy explained. “We’ve had a lot less complaints about the mail from both students and parents since we made the switch and we’re working on more changes to offer more services to students. We currently sell stamps and can send packages priority mail for students but I’m working to offer packaging supplies and money orders so we’ll function as a full post office for campus.

            He said that he’s trying to get FedEx, UPS and USPS drop boxes placed near Pinecrest Manor where the office is located so students don’t have to walk into town to return packages through the most common carriers.

            I asked Gardy for a piece of advice he would give to students, as I have asked many of the individuals I’ve met with while writing this blog. He said simply: “You have to show them you want to work.”

A Double Dose

The past few weeks for MU students has been rough. Find any one of us and ask. If we have time to answer you, we'll say we're stressed, on the border of being sleep deprived and that we really don't have time to chat because we have to get an assignment done, or jet off to class.

While this isn't an excuse for not keeping up with posting the inside scoop on the wonderful faculty and staff that work at Mansfield, I want to offer my deepest apologies. As a senior student, my life has been consumed with group projects for important classes that needed my attention. In the end, the projects went as well as the could, and my group members and I are not only happy with how they went, but proud that all of our time and effort paid off for us.

Between group meetings and buckling down to get some serious work done, I was able to schedule in a few interviews for the Scoop and I have some great MU employees to introduce to you in the next few days! I've had a great time meeting them and sincerely wish that I had met these individuals earlier in my college career. Looking at the words of advice they have given me, and through this blog, other students as well, I can only imagine the impact they would have made on me over the course of the past few years if I had met them earlier. Some have inspirational stories while others have a great sense of what is important to them in life, so keep an eye on the Scoop for the next few days!

-Meredith