The Road Called Life: Where Does Your Road Lead?

Posted By Theresa McMannus

When you were younger, did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up? I’m talking - really know. I mean, have a plan, kind of know. If you did, and you’re living the dream - congratulations! Or, maybe you thought you knew what you wanted to be and followed a path in that direction, but life took you on the scenic route. Maybe you didn’t have a clue and set out on life’s way until you’re up to your neck adulting. All are okay and since we all work for institutions of higher education - well, all routes were a learning experience. 

Me, I would classify myself as somewhere in the middle. I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but life took me down a side road. It later connected backup, but the lessons in between were enough to get me here. ​

You see, when I graduated high school, SATs determined everything. Your SAT score was the determining factor if you were admitted into college and likely if you got the program you wanted. Let’s just say testing and SATs were not my friends. Oh, I was admitted to college, but not the program I was hoping to study. With a chip on my shoulder, I decided to finish a two-year program. A month after graduation, I got married and a month after that - well, adulting. I took a temporary job at the University of Maine. Between July and November, I worked two or three jobs around campus. This was a time of discovery - academia - who knew. I had never thought of higher ed as a place I wanted to work, let alone a place that would offer me all that I have come to appreciate. In November of that year, I took a permanent part-time position. For another six months I would catalog books at the library. Then, there was a full-time opening in the library office. Full-time pay, benefits - Adulting 101. 

This was the starting line for me. This job taught me applied word-processing skills, how to use spreadsheets for real data collection and reporting purposes; charts, graphs, and paying attention to the details. This was also a time when card catalogs were becoming digitized. Part of my job was to deliver the rolls of magnetic tapes to the building where our computerized mainframe lived, drop them off, record dates, times, tape numbers, record numbers and later to place the orders to load the tapes and run programs to move the information from the tapes to the library information system for our entire seven campus system. A screw up here would mess up the cataloging system all over the state - no pressure. It was also the same time many journal databases and other research resources were moving to online subscriptions for libraries everywhere. I was on the phone with vendors learning to code web links on webpages to connect our school to vendor databases by way of using their school ID cards. It was here I started learning HTML code. 

Two years later, the chance to move up the ranks took me to a new department and new work. Here I would be on the front line with students and faculty. It was meaningful work. Using my word-processing skills to help edit research papers for faculty, downloading spreadsheets and uploading them into stand alone database programs. Creating flyers to promote professional development events, conferences and programs. This is where my appreciation for event planning really got off the ground. I was running logistics for the largest conference held on-campus at the time. Organizing speaker travel and pay, being on the planning committee, finding resources to get what we needed when we needed it. We had over 400 attendees with 8-10 concurrent sessions. Catering and dining, parking, classroom reservations, AV services, oh my, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Was this pressure? You bet, of a certain kind, but something inside me thrived on it. Producing the materials that went in folders, stuffing name tags with our student employees, opening day registration, oh…, I liked this.

Three or four years later, another job opened up - working for a college dean. It was another step up, new learning opportunities. Sure, why not. 

I stayed in that position for about nine years and two deans. Hands down some of the most rewarding years of my life. The first month in the job, I was responsible for pulling together a small donor luncheon - in the dean’s office. Only five or six people, but several hundred thousand dollars on the line. Anyone noticing how much pressure I put on myself - not expected, just self applied. All I had to do was produce the agenda, order lunch and make sure the dean’s office was in order. It wasn’t like I was the one who had to “make the ask”. What I did do was take responsibility for being part of something bigger, important to students, faculty and programs. That isn’t something you teach. It’s an awareness of what needs to happen to get the job done. Am I wrong in thinking that way?

It was also during this time, the chip on my shoulder was weighing me down. The one about a college degree. Oh yeah, that one. I worked my way through a four-year degree one class at a time. This was also the boom of online education everywhere. Thank goodness for that. I studied, wrote papers and listened to lectures in the early morning hours before the house wake up, or during lunch breaks, and when it was my husband's time to read a bedtime story, I would keep working. I would find a quiet place to read and write papers - sometimes close my eyes for a quick rest. 

Wait - there is another opportunity to move up the ranks. This time working for central administration. I did, for about three years and I finished that degree and graduated with honors. 
With my degree completed and now at the top of the administrative assistant ranks, there wasn’t much upward movement for me. Why had I bothered to finish my degree and always took the opportunities to move up and learn new and more things? Why do it? I still don’t have those answers. Why do we do it?

I took a salaried job as a conference coordinator in our Conference Services department. I enjoyed this work and even more I enjoyed the people I was working with, and the people I worked for. I learned the rhythm of our calendar of events, summers are hectic and winters are slower. Working with a group of people who meshed - taught me the ins and outs of the office, the work and all the contacts. I devoured all of it. Events small and large. Some of the state's largest events. But my own perfection got in the way. I started working long hours. Making myself available at all times of the day and week. I wanted the events to go off without a hitch. I didn’t trust others to do the same. Whops! You guessed it - I hit a wall. Burn out. Now I’m NOT happy. I was in need of self-correction. 

This is where my side drive meets back up with the main road. In high school I wanted to do something in business and live in a big city. I wonder how long that would have lasted before burning out. Instead, I’ve taken a drive nearly 30 years long. The scenic route. Reaching milestones along the way, but also dodging potholes, hitting potholes, driving over hills and along fields, speeding and drifting around corners. I’m on the road to recovery as they say. Learning to set boundaries and limits. Go home at the end of day instead of keep working. If something isn’t perfect, it’s not the end of the world. I’m also learning to apply that to all aspects of my life, not just work. Don’t let traffic and noise ruin the road. We get one ride, we need to enjoy it and our traveling companion(s).

​I could have written this article about professional accomplishments and individual successes in the event sense, but haven’t I really? My life in events has been built over a number of years and many lessons, but the biggest is about trust and learning what’s important. Where does your path lead you?

Author

Theresa McMannus, Assistant Director, Events & Hospitality, Auxiliary Enterprises, University of Maine, ACCED-I Member