Have you held different positions at LCC? How would you describe your career path and the role that LCC played in it?

I came to LCC in 1998 as a licensed career counselor in Career & Employment Services.  As the assessment coordinator, I brought in 20 different career assessments of interests, personality, aptitudes, skills, and values.  With these assessments and career information from book, video, and computer resources, we could get a student to move from having no idea what they wanted to do to being excited about a career direction in just two or three sessions.

In 2004, I opened the Student Services desk on the new West Campus.  After a year at West, I became the coordinator of the testing desk for the downtown 1,000 student math lab.  In 2013, I transitioned to being the academic coordinator for the newly merged English, Humanities, and Social Science department.  Then in 2015, I began an eight-year role as coordinator of the East Campus.  Finally, in 2024, I became the director of Extension Centers and Lifelong Learning.

My career path involved moving to different roles within LCC to build new knowledge, skills, and relationships that would help me move up the career ladder and be more valuable to the college.  I had the uncommon privilege to work in student services, academic departments, and workforce development.

What's your favorite memory from your time at LCC? Who are the people who made working here great?

My favorite LCC memories are of the wonderful people I’ve worked with throughout my career.  These include Diane Lewis, Terry Wellman, Luann Cosper, Pat Cramer, Barb Lytle, Sharon Peek, James Woolcock, Alandis Baker, Kit Parker, Carrie Wilson, Eric Bennett, Jim DeVries, Mort Mattson, Cathy Griffin, Eric Snider, Tammy Matthews, Nancy Dietrich, Barb Line, Luann Bibbee, Teresa Price, Liz Garrett, Matt Lemon, Alicia Dashevskiy, Amy Phillips, Brittany Van Kranenburg, Navpreet Kaur, Belal Gharib, Maddie Loveall, and many, many others.

What were your greatest accomplishments or successes while working at LCC?

My proudest LCC accomplishments involve people whom I was able to influence in a special way.  This includes many students I saw for career counseling.  One student had a particularly difficult time finding a career direction.  She wanted to work outside, but wasn’t interested in farming or trades.  Then one day, she realized she really loved learning about plants.  She transferred to MSU to study botany and, upon graduation, accepted a job with an electric utility walking the transmission rights-of-way to monitor plant life that could interfere with crews working on the lines.  Many students want to work out-of-doors, but she was an unusual success story of a student who found employment in her passion.

I also influenced many students who were student employees.  One young woman came from a foreign country and learned to speak fluent English in her two years of high school.  She was a high achiever in school, but had never worked a job until I hired her for the LCC East front desk.  She started out very nervous and shy and afraid of making mistakes.  With encouragement and training, she eventually became a confident and hard-working employee.  With experience, she moved up to part-time support and became a real leader in the department.  She eventually graduated MSU and got her first professional job with the Pepsi Corporation.  After a year or so, she moved up into a management position.  She always was grateful for her start at LCC East.

Supervisor: Lee Gardner

What's your favorite memory of this employee? Do you have any other positive thoughts to share about this individual?

I have only supervised Mark for the past year, but in this time I have come to know Mark as a highly student-focused employee. He exemplifies LCC ideals in all that he does, and there are countless students that have benefited from Mark's service at LCC. Mark's impact on LCC goes far beyond his role as a supervisor, and extends to shaping the culture and personality of LCC's East Campus that will endure long beyond his time there. Perhaps my biggest takeaway from Mark and his time at LCC is his consistent desire to help employees take their first step at LCC. Mark has a affinity for making strong hiring decisions and assisting employees in their professional development and growth. Numerous employees at LCC have started under Mark's supervision to ultimately expand their careers to other parts of the college. Mark will be greatly missed, but the impact he's had on the people he has supported will continue long after he leaves.