ProfilesPage 4 April 22, 2009

Kristina HardingS Vicki HendersonSC

Mary NicholsSC

By Cameron SiefkesNews and opinion editor

Heading to the depths of Christy only to discover the equipment room is locked without a student worker in sight means one thing for communication students, go find Mary.

She may sigh at first. How-ever, a friendly laugh to let the anxious student know that she was only kidding will soon follow. After all, students are her favorite part of the job.

Mary Nichols is the ad-ministrative assistant for

the communication depart-ment. Every day at 8 a.m. she will begin checking out equipment, performing vari-ous tasks for professors, and keeping track of the commu-nication budget.

She previously worked for Rubbermaid and Koch In-dustries before beginning her current job eleven years ago.

Coming from a small town of 1000 people, she enjoys Winfield and had to remind her kids to appreciate it as well. She said, “I came from a town that there was noth-ing for miles. I had to say to my kids, ‘You think there

Deb PearceSC

By Paige CarswellSports editor

Deb Pearce, faculty assis-tant, spends her days work-ing in Beech Science Center, but dreams of being a crime scene investigator in another life. She wants to go to Aus-tralia, and says if she didn’t

have to work, she would want to volunteer to help di-saster victims. Dreams aside, Pearce doesn’t exactly have the most boring of lives. The self-proclaimed Jayhawk basketball-crazed person moved to back to Kansas af-ter years of living in Arkan-

By Samantha GillisFeatures editor

She was always fond of the anticipation Saturday brought, when she and her grandmother would visit the flower nursery. “She always let me pick out the one I wanted, whether they would last or not,” Vicki Henderson, educa-tion faculty assistant, said. Now she wants to continue the tradition with her grand-children. The mother of two and grandmother of four gradu-ated from Southwestern in 1981 with a degree in el-ementary education and the notion she wanted to teach children. “I taught middle school for a few years but I real-ized I enjoyed working in the higher ed department,” Hen-derson said. So she traded in the chalk dust and apple cores for handbooks and planning meetings. Most days she’s track-ing students’ progress and working with faculty. Once she leaves campus, none of her office work fol-lows her. “I’ve learned to not take things for granted, and try to live everyday as it comes

By Colin BakerStaff reporter

Loving what you do makes every day you live worth liv-ing. Kristina Harding, admis-sions assistant, does exactly that. She loves her job and what she does. “I am the office manager,” Harding said. “I process application files and manage the letters that go to inquiries and applicants. It is fun to see how many people

apply to the school and write letters to them.” Harding is from Winfield and graduated from South-western in 1986 with a home economics degree. She worked in food service until 1989. “This job in the admis-sions office came open back in ’89,” Harding said. “I ap-plied and was offered the job and so I took it.” Harding said her favor-ite part about her job is the

atmosphere. “I like being around the college kids and all they have to offer,” Hard-ing said. “I constantly meet new people and that’s a plus. I am very fortunate to work with the people I work with also.” The way she looks at it, nothing much will change for Harding in the next five years. “I will probably still be here and have the same job,” Harding said. “I will be in-volved with all of my chil-dren’s activities as well.” A typical day for Harding wouldn’t appeal to everyone. “I go through all the mail and make new files for ap-plicants,” Harding said. “I make a lot of entries into the computer and I answer the phone non-stop.” The one thing most people on campus wouldn’t know about her isn’t as shock-ing as some other answers would be. “A lot of people don’t know that I love rock music,” Harding said. “I am a big fan of 3 Doors Down and Journey. Journey is my all-time favorite band.” Colin Baker is a freshman majoring in communication. You may e-mail him at colin.baker@sckans.edu.

to you. Enjoy what that day brings,” said Henderson. She learned the lesson af-ter suffering a heart attack two years ago. She has recovered from other setbacks as well. “My divorce was not a happy time in my life. It was so difficult starting over,” she said “My brother and mother were always there to listen, not to give advice or anything, just listen to me talk,” she said. Now that the storm has passed, Henderson aspires to travel. “I’ve always wanted to see the big white houses in the south, like the ones they show in the movies,” she said. She hopes to do so one

day with her mother. For now she can be found with her family, especially her grandchildren. “We get together for ev-ery occasion, or even when there’s not an occasion,” said Henderson. On days the grandchildren garden she said it tends to get a bit messy. “It doesn’t even matter, the garden bed in the front is theirs,” Henderson said. “When it all comes down to it, I’ve found out what mat-ters is my family, friends and my religion.” Samantha Gillis is a soph-omore majoring in conver-gent journalism. You may e-mail her at samantha.gillis@sckans.edu.

Katie Bipes/Collegian photographer

sas and Mississippi to fol-low her husband’s job. She interviewed at Southwestern so that she could spend more time with her children, then in high school. Pearce stayed because of students. “I love the students,” Pearce said. “They keep you feelin’ young.” She starts her day with her least favorite part—hav-ing to be at school at 7:45 a.m. each day, but says she loves spending time with the “Beech Boys.” She goes home every evening to take care of her dog, a dachshund/corgi mix named Sophie. A moment Pearce shared with a former president while in her car at a stoplight is what she says is her claim to fame. “Bill Clinton winked at me once when I lived in Little Rock. He was gover-nor then and he was jogging and was stopped at the stop-light. I looked over at him and he looked over at me and winked at me,” Pearce said. Pearce enjoys shopping, reading and the fall season. “I love fall,” she said. “It’s get-ting close to basketball sea-son, and the weather. That’s when the students come back to campus. I always look for-ward to them coming back.” Paige Carswell is a sopho-more majoring in journalism. You may e-mail her at paige.carswell@sckans.edu.Katie Bipes/Collegian photographer

is nothing to do here? You wanna go stay with grand-ma?’”

This town also provides a few traditions for Nichols. Not only is she a regular at the Bluegrass Festival, but she is also a part of the Wal-nut Valley Quilting guild. She says that quilting is her biggest hobby.

She began quilting just three years ago, but her work with sewing extends back many years.

Nichols said, “I made all of my own clothes when I was in high school. Recently I needed a hobby, but I didn’t want to sew clothes. So, I decided to join the guild.” Since then, she has put to-gether six quilts and a few quillos, which are a mix of a quilt and a pillow.

Someday she hopes to teach full-time at this college where she received both her undergraduate and masters in business. For now though, she can still be found in the basement of Christy tending to student and faculty needs. But she will only be there until five when she will will-ingly leave her favorite place on campus to head home.

Cameron Siefkes is a ju-nior majoring in communi-cation. You may e-mail her at cameron.siefkes@sckans.

Brian NelsonCollegian photographer

Kristina Harding Deb PearceMary NicholsVicki HendersonFavorite restaurant in Winfield:

Favorite musical artist/genre:

Hometown:

Favorite movie:

Most prized posses-sion:

Dream job:

Favorite place on campus:

El Maguey

3 Doors DownJourney

Winfield

“Camelot” with Richard Harris

My children

Having own catering service

The Admissions office, it’s just like going in a home. From one home to the next.

Biederman’s

Kenny G

Dexter

“Scrooge”

My dad’s army picture

Race car announcer

The Mound

El Maguey

Josh Groban

Mankato

“Steel Magnolias”

My sewing machine

No job/win the lottery/volun-teer

The Basement of Christy

El Maguey

John Mayer

Emporia

“To Kill a Mockingbird”

My dog Sophie

To be a CSI.

The 77 steps

April 22 is Administrative Professionals Day. The Collegian is featuring 12 individual administrative assistants or faculty assistants. Nearly a dozen other individuals serve students in various supporting roles.

C

Anthony Cook/Collegian photographeredu.