This month’s staff member in the spotlight is Brooke Bennett from the Advance College Project. We asked her a series of questions, and here’s what she had to say (responses may have been edited for concision and clarity):
What is your name and what do you do; how long have you worked here in OVPUE?
My name is Brooke Bennett, and I have worked as ACP’s Event & Instructional Scheduling Specialist since February 2020.
What three traits define you?
Creative, passionate, and thoughtful.
What would you do (for a career) if you weren’t doing this?
Trying a dream career: something in art, history, or video design.
If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
Speak many languages (ancient to modern).
What challenging thing has happened (to) for you, and what did you gain from it?
I wanted to make a career change, but I didn’t want to leave a stable job without finding a stable replacement. In addition, I wanted to keep growing in my old career position so the success there wasn’t stagnant. I knew the search for new job could be difficult, considering the location and subject(s) of my search. However, I didn’t expect the search to last two years, and it took a toll on my mental health. Thankfully, I carried on the search and eventually found the right fit at IU’s Advance College Placement. Since I started the new job, I’ve felt stronger mentally and more confident in what I have to offer the world. I’m grateful such a blessing happened before our current state of physical distancing.
How do you define success?
I think success is defined as the epilogue of a story: you learn something from an experience, and then take that lesson to better things for you as an individual and/or other people.
What do you do in your spare time?
Read, listen to music, play video games, cook, walk outside, and occasionally doodle.
What’s the coolest (or most important) trend you see today?
I think an important trend of our time is the almost-instantaneous sharing of experiences. As technology has grown, people around the world have become more interconnected. But I don’t think that’s been as true as what we’re dealing with collectively with COVID-19. Through phone conversations, movie watch parties, social media posts, and so on, we’re all actively staying in contact and in real time. We’re also consuming art and educational content at a likely higher than ever rate, and it’s mostly thanks to access to technology. It makes me wonder what it would have been like to go through such global events in the past, without that kind of technology. As a history fan, I can’t help but reflect on that.
What is your favorite thing about working at OVPUE?
I love the team of people that I work with at ACP. I haven’t been on the job for long—I had just enough time to learn my duties before IU allowed employees to work from home. But it’s been a pleasure to work in a positive and supportive environment, and we catch up every week over Zoom.
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