For those of you that have attended NCU, you undoubtedly had a class in the Goodrich Administration Building, and most likely you, at sometime, had one on the third floor. My office is positioned on the second floor, so I see students going up and down the stairs on a daily basis. One of my favorite encounters with new students typically occurs very early in the semester. A student, unfamiliar with the Ad Building comes quickly down the stairs, stops and pokes their head into our office and asks “where’s the restroom?” It’s at this point I tell them, “keep going down, it’s on the first floor.” The look of exasperation, because they have to go from the third floor to the first floor in the middle of class, is always the same – no matter the student. And each year, I think about the thousands of students that have rushed down all those stairs in the middle of class. I look forward to the many more students that poke their heads in and ask that same question.
This school year is a bit different for me. Though I’ve worked at NCU since December 2008, I have just recently changed roles and now serve as the director of alumni & church relations. I have the opportunity to relate to students right now and I have the chance to introduce them to our Alumni Association and the excitement that comes with returning to campus for homecoming and remembering fondly your alma mater. We only have a short time with our students before each leaves us and I am excited to welcome this year’s students; freshmen attending college for the first time, transfer students coming from another institution, or returning students. I looking forward to meeting you and getting to know you while on campus, so that when you become an alumnus of NCU, your affinity for your alma mater is already deeply sown.
Shannon Balmer – Director of Alumni & Church Relations