What do you do at Lamar?

I am the executive associate to the director of athletics here at Lamar University. I also assist all varsity sports – except for football – with their purchasing and travel needs. In addition to that, I also assist academics with the grand-in-aids for all our student-athletes. Every student-athlete who receives grand-in-aid comes through this office. My responsibilities for grand-in-aid includes typing up the paperwork, sending it to the student-athletes and when everything is signed I receive it and make sure it is properly filed away. 
 
My No. 1 priority is the student-athlete. When it comes time for grant-in-aid everything else gets put on the backburner. Student-athletes must have their money to be able to go to school. A perfect example of that was just the other day. I had some work that needed to be done for Marco (Born) but it had to be put to the side until I finished the grant-in-aid paperwork for our student-athletes because of summer two classes getting ready to start.
 
How did you get started in this career field?

I've been with the LU athletics department just a little over years, but I've been working in the office setting since I was 15 years old. When I was in high school I worked half a day and went to school half a day. My very first job was at the city of Groves tax office. I've been fortunate enough to have really good jobs my whole life. This is what I do. The reason I do this is because I enjoy helping people. A lot of what I do are things that I know need to get done but our director of athletics or our coaches may not have the time to do. We all have situations like that, no matter what field you're in. It's what I do, it's what I like to do and it is rewarding to me to know that I've been able to help make our department successful.  
 
What's a typical day look like for you?

The easiest way for me to answer that question is to say that from the moment I walk in the door to the moment I leave at the end of the day I'm busy. It's continuously busy, which is a good thing. It's not uncommon for the phone to ring between 30-40 times per day and have anywhere from 10-15 people stop by needing assistance. This job is constant interruption, so you have to be pretty good at changing gears, but remembering where you left off when you get back to the previous item you were working on.
 
I've come to understand that in the world of athletics everyone needs things right now. There is rarely a situation where someone comes to you with an item that can be put on the backburner. I understand that, and I can appreciate that, so I work as hard as I can to make sure that I accommodate everyone. Basically, in this line of work, you have to be okay with starting something and not being able to finish it right that moment, and at times not finishing it that day. No two days are ever alike in this job.
 
What are some of the challenges you face, and what are the rewards?
I very rarely have direct contact with the student-athletes. Normally, when they're in this building they are here to meet with someone else. I'm responsible for handling their paperwork. The easiest answer to that question that I can give is the biggest challenges are making sure that I get everything done on time.
 
Honestly, the most rewarding part of my job is when I get to see our athletes step out in the competition arena and succeed and know that I helped play a small role in their success. I'm never going to coach or recruit any of these athletes, but I do have a role to play in their success – like we all do – and I take pride in that.
 
Is there anything about your field that people don't know that you think they should?

This is a very time-consuming job. Like I mentioned earlier, I know I have something to do from the moment I walk in until I leave at the end of the day. It's a great feeling to know that you have this long list of "To Dos" and at the end of the day knowing you crossed those off the list so you can move on to the items that will pop up tomorrow.

-LU CARDINALS-