Learning Together, and From Each Other, in the Classroom
On any given weekday, there are close to a thousand students working hard in Colby-Sawyer classrooms and labs with their professors' guidance. And on any given weekday, the person in the next seat over in class may not only study at Colby-Sawyer, but may be on staff at the college as well. Colby-Sawyer steadfastly supports its mission to “encourage students of varied backgrounds and abilities to realize their full intellectual and personal potential so they may gain understanding about themselves, others and the forces shaping our rapidly changing and pluralistic world.” Part of fulfilling that academic mission includes a tuition remission benefit for employees that enables staff members to take Colby-Sawyer courses as matriculated or nonmatriculated students.
Some staff members take courses for pure enjoyment to satisfy a hobby or gain a new perspective, while others pursue a degree. All share the supreme satisfaction of expanding their minds, gaining a newfound appreciation for Colby-Sawyer's traditional students, and doing it all in a day's work.
Classroom Activities
Many recognize Susan Azodi as the administrative coordinator in Campus Activities. While managing campus-wide events, Azodi has also been working toward her degree, which she will earn this spring.
“I really enjoy the interaction with students, and I am impressed with the caliber of faculty we have,” says Azodi, who especially enjoyed Professor of Humanities Pat Anderson's American Dream course. “The way he mixed literature with film was really exceptional. It made us look at an ideal and see how it had transcended the decades."
Another course Azodi recalls as practical as well as academic: “It was very interesting to take David Elliott's course Adolescent Psychology when my sons were adolescents – we were going through the very trials and tribulations we learning about in class.”
Azodi will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English next month, but her quest for learning will continue. “When I finish my degree, I want to keep taking classes – probably not for a grade but just to enjoy them.”
Azodi would not hesitate to encourage a peer interested in taking courses at Colby-Sawyer to go for it. “Don't think, do!” she urges. “You'll never regret it, and if you're concerned about grades you can audit the class or take it pass/fail.”
Playing Hard in the Classroom
Lisa Lacombe wears many hats as the director of Recreational Sports and the Dan and Kathleen Hogan Sports Center, and most who pass through Hogan's doors know her ready smile. Lacombe, however, is also familiar to the children at Colby-Sawyer's laboratory school, Windy Hill, because she is pursuing her degree in Child Development. In fact, so ambitiously was Lacombe working toward her degree that she needed to declare a minor to slow her progression, allowing her to delay her off-campus teaching obligation until she has completed the classroom requirements. Instead of two classes a semester, Lacombe now takes two classes a year, and has hopes of teaching some day.
Lacombe's first Colby-Sawyer classroom experience grew out of her desire to learn Spanish. Satisfied with the experience, and wondering “what if” she had pursued teaching instead of following other passions, Lacombe matriculated soon after.
Lacombe agrees that the best part of her experience is being in a classroom alongside traditional students. “You feel funny at first, and then they take you in. They think you know more than they do but you don't. The rewarding thing is that you are continuing to learn.”
An admitted challenge for any staff member taking advantage of tuition remission is finding time for everything, but Lacombe has been able to manage well. “My job allows some flexibility, but you can do it in any job, I imagine,” she says. “Too many people think you can only work 8-5, but I would come in early, leave later, return to work after my once-weekly long class. Sometimes you actually get more done in the hours that most people aren't here.”
Overall, the challenge seemed too good to pass up. “I thought 'why not?' I'm not in a rush. I can get a degree in teaching and not have it cost me very much,” she explains. “I'm doing it because I'm able to, and because I want to.”
Nursing Ambitions
For more than eight years, Rhonda Tracey has supported students in their internship and career pursuits as the administrative assistant in Career Development. During much of this time, Tracey has also been working toward her bachelor's degree in Nursing, which she will earn this May. For Tracey, it has been quite a journey.
“It's been a long, long road with sacrifices along the way,” she says. “Finally I'm here, though, and not without support of my family and supervisor.” And not coincidentally, Tracey has developed great time management skills along the way.
Tracey, too, has taken pleasure in learning alongside her traditional classmates. “The students have taken me in. I've been with three graduating classes and they've taken me in as a peer and valued my life experience.”
After eight years, leaving the college is “bittersweet” for Tracey, but the experience has “opened up new doors” for her. She will begin her nursing career this summer at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Orthopedics, Trauma and Plastic Surgery after passing her licensure examinations.
Though her degree is in sight, Tracey vows that her quest for challenge and learning will not end at Commencement. “I was out of school for 20 years before I started coursework at Colby-Sawyer, but now I'll be a lifelong learner,” she says. “It's been long, and it's been hard, but it's all been worthwhile.”
A Love for Learning
After initial reservations, but with the support of her supervisor, Gina Reich, administrative assistant in Development, took a sociology class with Joe Carroll with great success. Before long, Reich matriculated, and now she is in pursuit of her associate's degree.
Reich loves being in class with Colby-Sawyer students and says they energize her. “I remember being scared at first, but after about three weeks I felt like one of them, and they certainly treat me as an equal,” she says.
The best part of the academic experience so far? Without hesitation Reich responds, “David Elliott!” and cites the energy he put forth in his Writing I course. “I had a fear of writing, and now I have no fear,” marvels Reich. “He is an unbelievable teacher, and through multiple drafts we students improved and grew in our writing.”
Reich appreciates how supportive everyone has been of her endeavors, from her supervisor and advisor to her husband and colleagues. “Joe Carroll gave me a little push, and David Elliott gave me an even bigger push. David told me 'Gina, you're going to graduate, and I'm going to come to your graduation,' and I know he'll be there,” Reich says.
The experience has resonated in remarkable ways with Reich, who says, “I think I'm a changed person. I feel like everything's complete.”
Surrounded by Opportunities Every Day
Colby-Sawyer employees need not matriculate to enjoy the academic opportunities at the college, and many take coursework out of personal interest. Helen Sieburg, staff accountant in Financial Services, decided to take classes she felt would be fun.
“I love watercolor paintings and decided to try my hand at it. I took Kristin Tupper's beginning watercolor class even though I can only draw stick figures and was concerned I might not be able to do much in the class other than splashes of color on paper,” Sieburg recalls. “I learned so much about the color wheel – something that is used in other media besides painting. I finished the class with some really good copies of pictures as well as some nice original pieces.”
At first Sieburg was somewhat intimidated by the art majors surrounding her, but discovered that they were all very helpful during critique sessions. She made up class time by starting the work day at 6:30 a.m. and taking half-hour lunches, and enjoyed getting to know a great group of students. “It is fun to walk around campus and be able to say 'hi' and actually know the student,” she says.
Sieburg highly recommends taking Colby-Sawyer classes. “Not taking classes to earn a degree lifted the pressure and made me enjoy the learning process so much more,” she says, pointing out that the nominal registration fee makes it practically free to learn.
Reich agrees about the ease of using the tuition remission benefit. “The process is easy. You pay the small fee, get your supervisor's approval, and it's all very easy.”
Curious?
If you're a Colby-Staff member inspired by Azodi and Tracey, who will turn their tassels on May 9, or intrigued by Lacombe, Reich and Sieburg as they work through prerequisites, practicums and painting classes, you may want step into a classroom yourself. Find more information about the tuition remission benefit here
-Kathleen Karr, Employment Coordinator, Human Resources
