It's Good to Be Back.
I started working at Webster University in San Diego in 1991. Within a few days of employment, the campus director mentioned to me "before you know it, you will look up and 20 years will go by and you will still be at Webster." She told me that no one ever leaves and chuckled. Within my first week I knew that I made the right choice in choosing Webster because I felt its sincerity and was proud to say that I was a part of the "Webster family."
In my nine years at the San Diego campus, I represented various departments without ever leaving my desk. I began working directly with faculty and continued on to represent student services and financial aid (with a little marketing thrown in for good measure). I got immense satisfaction in helping Webster students meet their educational goals. However, nine years into being with Webster, I accepted a marriage proposal that included relocation to Jacksonville, Florida. I thought this must be my time for change; new marriage, new city, new job.
Once we got to Jacksonville and barely settled in, I hit the pavement to look for work. I didn't really have a direction but I was excited about what might be out there for me. I also didn't have a clue where anything was but adjusted to the new city as fast as I could. Soon after arriving, I went to Webster University's Jacksonville campus to introduce myself and to see if they had any ideas for me about my job search. The Jacksonville staff warmly embraced me, gave me a few job ideas and hired me part time which helped us both out. It was good to have that Webster connection; the familiarity of being at Webster probably helped my confidence and I was able to meet new people through Webster while learning my way around Jacksonville.
I soon accepted a position at a large trucking and logistics company. There were about 800 employees in a large, five story building and I thought that would be a nice change after working in a small office. As it turned out though, it was a great company but it wasn't a good fit for me. The vast difference between such a large company and a small office was the autonomy and structure of the employee's time. I thought about Webster and the day I answered the phone at the trucking company with "Webster University," I took it as a sign.
So about one year after I left San Diego, as fate would have it, and while I was thinking about why I enjoyed the Webster environment so much, the Jacksonville campus called me to find out if I was interested in working for Webster as a Community Relations Coordinator (CRC). The current CRC was moving back to San Diego and after thinking about it for about two seconds I answered "yes!" The San Diego director was right, next spring will be my 19th anniversary with Webster. It's good to be back.
Lisa Snowberger
