April 30 was my last day of work. I've meet some wonderful people over those 35 years that I've worked on and off, and some interesting (not so wonderful) people as well. I've worked about 25 of those years at Brigham Young University. It's a great place to work, but it also has some draw backs, just like any large institution.
Let's review. According to my employment record I received from BYU, I started working on August 13, 1979. I worked
full-time until April 2, 1982. I worked in the Advisement Center for the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences as an academic advisor for students who were majoring in Home Economics Education (my major), Clothing and Textiles and Child Development and Family Relationships. My main duties involved meeting with students and helping them chart their course to graduation and then clearing them to graduate. I had my own office and used an IBA Selectric typewriter with an interchangeable ball for different fonts and a correction ribbon right in the typewriter. We all thought those typewriters were cutting edge.
I went through two pregnancies while working full-time. It was hard to work every day while pregnant and then to leave Jordan with a baby sitter all day. Rick was in law school during these years. Some of the people I worked with were Larry T. (my supervisor), Sharon D., Paula H., Omar K., & Merle W. I liked my job well enough but was happy to move on. Among other lessons, I learned that some students can be whiners if they don't get their way. I learned to hold my ground and compromise when needed.
Next leg of my journey involved being
on call from June 25, 1982 until September 11, 1987. I worked again in the Advisement center for a time, in the Kennedy Center for International Relations, in the Economics department two times, in the Political Science department two times and as needed with the FHSS Dean's office. I work a few short-term stints while other secretaries had a baby or underwent surgery or if extra workers were needed. During this time, our son Dave was born and I had three young children at home. We needed the money, so I took whatever came my way. I would work for a week or a month here and there, but it was doable. We moved into our first home during these years. I met a lot more faculty members during this time and enjoyed moving around. Over 90% of the faculty are wonderful, but the other 10% made life difficult. I learned that some faculty can be whiners if they don't get their way. I learned to hold my ground and compromise when needed.
During this time I worked with David M., Scott D., Dennis T., (my supervisor) Jim M., Rulon P., and I was sent out on these jobs by the Dean's Administrative Assistant Joyce P. I worked mostly with men and learned that I would rather work with men than women. Ha! My duties were almost exclusively secretarial work. Computers were just getting established on campus, and each department had a couple of computers that everyone used. Word processing students were hired to type up documents, tests and papers in a place called...The Word Processing Center. If someone wanted something typed up on the computer, they had to submit it well in advance. I remember when I heard the very unlikely rumor that in the future all professors would have their own computer in their office. That seemed laughable! How could BYU afford to buy every professor their own computer? I learned a lot of new skills during this time. My first word processing program was Word Star and we used Dos commands. Then the first Word Perfect word processing program came out and we thought there couldn't be anything better than that. Little did we know.
I took
a break from work from September 1988 (when Andy was born) until September of 1993. I was home full-time with my kids and I loved it. But expenses started building up and so back to work I went.
In September of 1993 until January of 1995, I
taught Home Economics at Independence High school part-time. I started working when Andy was in pre-school and the other kids were in school all day. I taught two sewing classes and loved it. Independence HS is an alternative HS and I worked with at-risk kids. I loved the kids (even though I've never heard such foul language in all my life) but had trouble with the administration. Long story there, but let's move on.
I went back to BYU on January 3 of 1995 and worked
part-time (20 hours a week) until January 13 of 2000. During these five years I worked in the Dean's office of the College of FHSS. I was a receptionist and did all the things receptionists do. I answered the phone, took messages, sorted the mail, filed and organized, made appointments, scheduled travel, ordered lunches, and organized meetings. I also did secretarial support for the New World Archeological Association and set up all their travel plans. It was kind of a boring job but the hours fit with my family. I was allowed to work from 10-2, M-F while my kids were in school. I would get them out the door and then be home before they returned. I also didn't work during the summer. Those were perfect hours for a working mother of four, but not the normal hours of a worker at BYU. I knew I was capable of doing more assignments, but this time the work schedule was more important than the work assignments at this point. I appreciated Joyce P. and Clayne P. allowing me to work those hours so that I could take care of my kids. I worked closely with Dean Clayne P. We was a very nice man who was quite disorganized. Other people in the office were associate Deans Dennis T., Paul P., Sally B., Jim H., and the full-time administrative assistants Lori S., and Marilyn W.
In January 13 of 2000, a new Dean came on board. David M., asked me if I would be his AA and work full-time. I told him I just couldn't do that and take care of my children. He told me he wanted me to be his AA anyway and he said he would work with me if I would take the job. I agreed. I got moved up to a
3/4 position and started qualifying for the master retirement plan. I got a nice raise and I hired three students to help me essentially do a more than full-time job in 3/4 time. David had lots of ideas and started immediately creating more work. I worked for him for seven years until 2007. These were the busiest years of my life. I worked hard at work and never got my "to do" list done. Never. I was the Relief Society President during this time. Two of our children went on missions and our daughters married during these years. Sometimes I thought I would churn into butter. I literally had every minute of every day fill to the max. It was stressful, but I loved it. Dean M. had me start taking on event planning for the college and I really enjoyed it. I planned and executed graduation exercises for the college. I planned and executed the inaugural Marjorie Pay Hinckley endowed lecture and chair and got to meet President Gordon B. Hinckley and shake his hand. Dean M. started a National Advisory Council and I helped a lot to get those gatherings going. We had our first Fulton poster conference I and worked hard on that too. I met some wonderful people along the way. Finally, I could plainly see that the Dean needed a full-time person and that I should move on and open up the space. I couldn't keep up that pace much longer. Robin S. came on board and I trained her to do many of my responsibilities and I took on event planning for the college exclusively. I loved doing event planning and found my niche in that area. I learned that some administrators can be whiners if they don't get their way. I learned to hold my ground and compromise when needed.
To be continued...
