Student, Molly Coleman, sat down with, Sharon Mills, Administrative assistant to the Associate Dean of Campus Operations, to inquire about her time at CT State Manchester.
Q: How long have you been at CT State Manchester?
A: I started as a student in 1982 and then I started working here in 1985 as a temporary clerk in the admissions office, and then the woman I was filling in for had her child and decided she wasn’t coming back so I got the job. I have been in this position since 1997.
Q. What has been your favorite part of the Manchester campus and community?
A: The student, staff and faculty atmosphere. There is always something going on, there is never a dull moment, there are always opportunities to learn new things here, nothing is stagnant.
Q. How has the college changed?
A: When I was a student, this building hadn’t even been built yet, there was a campus down [in back] with module buildings, and we were given 20 minutes in between classes to get around campus! They started building this building while I was a student, the physical campus. When I started this job I was scared to death, I didn’t think I could do it, but it all worked out.
Q. Do you have any plans once you are retired?
A: I do have plans. I am hoping to come back to work part time, just 20 hours a week, for two years. My husband and I are taking a trip across Canada. I also have a hobby of paper crafting; it’s taken over a room in my house. I am also going to work for a store down in Old Saybrook, the Papercraft Clubhouse, for one day a week.
Q: What will you miss about Manchester?
A: The people, the community, you are always meeting new people here. I have learned so much and made so many good friends here, I am really going to miss the people.
Q: Any notable student stories you will take with you?
A: When I was first here, I was friends with more of the students than I was staff as I was only 21. I worked in the next door over, and there was a student named Susan who came in one day, and she was in tears because she had just gotten word that she had received a scholarship. That always stuck with me.
Q. What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started?
A: People need to be accepted just as they are, including myself; everyone has the right to be heard, the feeling of being included. That is something I have learned over the years: everyone on this campus is important and has the ability to do great things.
Q. What do you want people to remember about you?
A: I hope people remember that I was kind and helpful and maybe that I could make them smile!
