This month’s Getting to Know You series features Sarah Alsobrooks, Academic Advisor in the CECS Center for Student Success
Sarah started at CECS in October 2014, as the Admin Assistant for the Civil and Chemical Engineering department. In July 2016, she joined the Center for Student Success team as Academic Advisor for the College.
Sarah’s been married to her husband Brad for coming up on 23 years, and she has twin daughters who are students here at UTC. One is a computer science major and one is in education. To complete the family, they also have four cats and two dogs.
Though she started her entry into the workforce at the Salvation Army Day Camp one summer in high school, she had plenty of other careers she was thinking about when she was small. “I wanted to be a teacher, a librarian, a nurse, a doctor, and a veterinarian” tells Sarah. She always loved school, and loved almost all of her teachers. “I was very lucky that most were very encouraging and supportive.”
What keeps Sarah busy when she’s not at work? “My favorite things to do are any of my crafts and spending time with my family. Every day, I am grateful for my family. My hobbies are quilting, embroidery, cross stitch, and knitting. My favorite is quilting. I collect coffee cups. I also collect pets. See above.”
A little more about Sarah:
“My proudest accomplishment is raising two amazing humans. I also ran two half-marathons. I was pretty proud of that. I’ve got my sights set on another one for 2022. Or 2023…
I’m not much of a vacation person. I prefer to stay home and sew, and I don’t like to leave my dogs. However, we did have a fun family vacation to Universal in Orlando a few years ago. Harry Potter was amazing! And I would love to travel to somewhere I can see the Northern Lights.”
When asked what her favorite thing is about your career, Sarah said “I am a very methodical, process-oriented person, so I enjoy being able to use that to help students see the path they need to follow to get to the end goal of graduation and life as a CECS graduate. I love having the opportunity to walk alongside our students as they follow that path, cheering their successes and providing guidance when needed. I also enjoy learning interesting things about our students. For example, I have recently discovered that I have two advisees who would LOVE to use their degree to design roller coasters. How cool is that???”
I often ask the question “What’s one thing about you that surprises people?” Sarah response: “Oh gosh, I don’t know. I don’t think I am particularly surprising. I’ve been told that I look mean, so people may be surprised to find out that I’m really not!” And though she was adamant about never ever singing at a Karaoke night, word on the street is she has been known to burst into song on a regular basis in her office. Oh to be a fly on the wall…
Final Question: What three items would you take with you on a deserted island?
“I depend on GPS to keep me from ending up on a deserted island, so I don’t need to plan for this. Plus, I’ve barely left my house for ten months, so…” I think we can all relate!
Thank you for the support and guidance you provide our students, Sarah! CECS is lucky to have you on our team!
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