I work in Business Affairs, in the Student Billing Department. I am actually retired but am currently working part time for the department as an accountant. My job involves reconciliations, reviewing accounts and jobs for accuracy, reporting, backing up Student Billing calls and e-mails, and a range of other projects as assigned. 

Working part-time gives me time to spend with my children, grandchildren, friends, and to travel. I enjoy having the life balance that working part time gives me.

Career path

I have worked at the University of Oregon in some capacity since 1978. I started out as a fry cook at the EMU and then moved into a custodial position for the EMU and then the Physical Plant. After an injury, I started to take classes. I really enjoyed accounting so I focused on that as my next path. I worked first as an Accounting Assistant, then an Accounting Technician, then an Accountant 1 and then I moved into my position of Accountant 2. All the accounting jobs have been with Business Affairs, so I have been in this area of the U of O for a while.

As you read above, you can see that my career at the University has been an interesting one. I was injured while working in my custodial position, so the UO placed me in a half time job and sent me to school half time for a year.  I was then hired for the Accounting Assistant position in Business Affairs and managed to focus on that position while going to school one class at a time. During my studying, I took classes at Lane Community College and at the UO. Having the UO and LCC work with me to succeed at my educational goals was really helpful.  Since I was hired in the accounting field while taking accounting classes, the on-the-job experience was an advantage to me in achieving my goals.

Eventually, I was able to apply and was hired for an Accounting 2 position. The UO has been a great place to work and I have been able to achieve many career goals. 

Obstacles

When I think back about the obstacles I have overcome. One of the obstacles was going from a labor-intensive position always on my feet to a position where sitting down at a computer was a challenge. Another obstacle, I was juggling school and kids, and working a full-time job while being a single mom. I learned that with perseverance and ingenuity, I could accomplish many things.

Personal life

I have a daughter, a son-in-law, a son, a daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters, which all live close by. I love to be around my kids and grandchildren, friends, and to travel—these are some of the things I do when I am not working part time. I don’t have a lot of crafty hobbies so working part time fills in some of my time and also leaves me time for family, friends, and travel. In my downtime I also like watching movies and playing games.

I do love to travel, which is why I am just getting back from spending three weeks in Hawaii. I have been to quite a few places, including London and Paris—Monet’s Gardens are so beautiful. I was in Utah recently to visit a friend who moved there; we went to some national parks, including Arches and Zion. Other places I have enjoyed are Mexico, San Francisco, Canada, Victoria BC, cruises to Alaska. I absolutely love nature, particularly rivers, waterfalls, and the ocean. At some point, I would like to go to New York and see some Broadway shows. 

(October 2023)