Q: How long have you worked at Rice?
A: I’ve been at Rice for coming up on 15 years this fall, which is hard to imagine!
Q: What is your favorite part about working for the university?
A: I feel privileged to work at Rice with the Rice EMS team. This group has changed and evolved over the years that I’ve been at the university, but at its core, it’s about responding to people who are having an illness or injury, and our team can respond to help get the emergency under control and improve the outcome. We also work to teach lifesaving skills to new providers and people in the campus community, and we provide tools for this. Even on the busiest of days, we’re ready to go, and it’s everyone’s contributions that make this possible.
Q: What do you want people to know about living in Houston?
A: Houston is an amazingly diverse city to live in. I enjoy the variety of people, the easy access to the arts and Memorial Park walking trails.
Q: What do you do in your down time?
A: I’m a national park aficionado. There are so many spectacular parks to visit, and I enjoy planning trips and visiting the giant natural parks like Olympic or Rocky Mountain as well as the historic parks.
Q: What’s your favorite spot on campus to show someone?
A: On campus, one of my favorite spots is the outside patio at O’Connor (a great spot to sit down in good weather and join a Zoom meeting). I also enjoy late night post-event cart rides back to the station — the medical center is a great view, there are bunnies hopping around campus, and it’s a side of campus that not many get to see.
Q: What’s the one thing that makes Rice special to you?
A: I enjoy the turn of the seasons at Rice. The start of the academic year brings so much new energy and new faces. Summer brings a lot of visitors, campers and guests who are enjoying campus for the first time. The spring semester culminates with so many family members and guests coming to celebrate the student’s commencement. Each season is different, and that makes it such a cool place to work.
Q: If you could be Sammy The Owl for a day, what would you do?
A: That’s a tough one! I think I’d want to be in the Fondren late night during exam season, cheering on the students who are making a push to learn that last chapter or get through those last equations to wrap up a course successfully.
Q: Where do you see Rice in 25 years?
A: I have a great aunt who was an early female student at Rice. When my sister and I were going through some family papers recently, we found a postcard that she had sent our grandfather with a drawing of Lovett Hall. She passed away before I was born, but clearly Rice had an impact on her. I hope Rice continues to be a place that inspires people who come here and welcomes students who didn’t think they might be welcomed at a university but end up as a part of the community here. Everyone who is a part of the campus community — students, faculty and staff — all have an impact on Rice, and I hope that we will continue to make it an inspiring, challenging, welcoming campus of dreamers working for a better world.
Q: What else have we not talked about yet that merits discussion?
A: Without a doubt, it’s the people at Rice that I’ve been able to interact with over the years that stands out. The dedicated teams who stay to manage hurricanes and storms, working at all hours to manage these needs together. The incredibly motivated students who are studying full time and also give innumerable hours to be a part of REMS. The faculty who lead the way in the classroom and as college leadership. These individuals and groups all work together to support the campus community, and I enjoy being a part of this.