What does your work consist of day to day?
I recruit first-year students, provide tours, discuss financial aid, and travel to meet them at college fairs and high schools. I typically recruit in the Albany, North Country, and Mohawk Valley regions.
What was it like doing admissions work during COVID?
It was tough because here, we do an awesome job face to face. Doing that over a screen is not the same. We didn’t travel; this is the first year since COVID began that we did. I traveled for eight weeks in the fall meeting students. It was so nice to be back, and this has been one of the busiest seasons. We have seen lines of students waiting to get into college fairs.
What do you like best about your role here?
I love interacting with the students! This is a time in their lives that can be stressful, but it’s also a fun time. What I really enjoy most is seeing the process come together. Helping them get from Point A in their college search then seeing them here on campus in August is great!
What is your work philosophy?
Work consumes 40 hours of your week, so it has to be something you can enjoy and see yourself doing for a long time. The biggest thing for me is finding a place that values you as a person, and as an employee, and that also recognizes that you have a life after work. I feel like I found that here at Caz.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I’m from Westmoreland, New York. I have a degree in meteorology from SUNY-Oswego and I double-majored in broadcasting and mass communications. I worked for several years as a weekend TV weathercaster and multimedia journalist for WKTV in Utica. I still fill in there quite frequently on a freelance basis. A lot of people don’t know that’s my background. It’s a great conversation starter.
What drew you to this job?
I wanted to get out of TV. It was a demanding lifestyle and it just got to be too much. I worked weekends and I missed a lot of holidays. I didn’t see TV as a future.
When I noticed this position, I wasn’t sure what the job consisted of at first. I love to work with people, and when I found this, I realized it’s a career I could continue for a long time. I fell in love with the people of the college, the students who come to the college, and the students themselves, and I didn’t dread Mondays anymore. I think that’s a big thing in a career.
What is something others may not know about you?
I have a twin sister. She works for the Juvenile Diabetes Association. She had been in Hoboken, New Jersey for seven years but came home during COVID. Now she’s trying to get back there.
I coach men’s track with my dad at Westmoreland High School. We’ve been doing that together for eight years and I enjoy it. It helps you to relate to the students. You learn to relate to them rather than expecting them to relate to you.
I can predict any type of weather. At Oswego, we learned how to do it straight off the map and by doing calculations. There is a lot that goes into looking at the weather to understand what’s really happening.
And I love severe weather! I love thunderstorms and exciting weather stuff. I once spent three weeks chasing tornados. I hate the snow, though. I have snow tires and four-wheel drive, but I don’t like driving in the snow.