Many of the dear friends & colleagues I’ve treasured at SNHU sending me off with love.
Two & a half years ago, I started a new phase of my career at Southern New Hampshire University. As a NH girl who had found her dream home (a historic farm in Goffstown) & developed an orchard & dreamy perennial gardens, I’d thought I’d planted permanent roots, both literally & figuratively. Yet, this formative, catalytic period has been a time of extreme growth & self-awareness for me.
During this time, there were so many things to learn & try, & SNHU allowed me to tap into strategic planning & stretching my range of skills, flexing into new projects & roles.
One of many, many fire drills at the Millyard.
Some of my fabulous colleagues from Liberal Arts, Gen Ed, & FYE.
Our team shifted greatly from when I first joined SNHU, & as many might know a year at an online university is like 7 years somewhere else. The pace is intensely fast in many ways, requiring considerable agility & radical acceptance of an environment of constant change. Many of my peers are very adept at this, so I’ve been able to observe & catalog a variety of strategies to use long-term.
Perhaps that why I love online curriculum development so much? You’re always learning new things!
Part of the original crew during a (you guessed it) fire drill.
Our team’s Secret Santa swap for my first SNHU holiday season.
What will forever cement SNHU both in my heart & mind were two life-defining events: 1) the birth of my son & 2) the birth of the new fully-online MFA Program in Creative Writing. Neither event was exactly an easy feat for an anxious introvert, first-time, 40-something, career mother in higher ed leadership. I definitely took some good knocks to my pride along the way & learned a tremendous deal about myself. All things have worked together for good.
And now appears I’m off to another adventure in Utah! With bittersweet feelings, I know I will miss my colleagues tremendously, many of whom I’ve known from my days at Hesser/Mount Washington College, nearing a decade. There are many more people dear to me at SNHU than even pictured in these images.
The fully-online MFA Program in Creative Writing development team.
My dear mentor, Dr. Jan Wyatt, who inspired me to become a department chair in the first place.
Yet, these relationships will continue, & I’m embracing the incredible opportunity to widen my horizons & bring into my life even more amazing people. I feel very grateful, blessed & supported by so many who love & are rooting for me, just as I’m cheering them on from a distance.
So, this post is to honor my friends & colleagues. Thank you, dear ones, for all you have done & given to me. We aren’t saying goodbye!
One of many treasured experiences, witnessing the magic of student graduates at commencement.
Such a talented team of creators, thinkers, & teachers I had the incredible privilege of supporting at SNHU.