“I guess I’m a late bloomer” says a true UTC ambassador

Lynne Marchetti was new to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus in 2019 and a little bit out of her element.

“It was one of the first times I was on campus,” she recalled, “and I was confused about one of the buildings I was looking for. I couldn’t decide where I needed to go to find it, and this gentleman beelined across the campus toward me and said, ‘You look like you’re lost.’

“I sort of jokingly said, ‘Boy, is it that obvious?’”

The gentleman who had made the beeline in her direction was UTC Chancellor Steven R. Angle.

“For someone like me, he could have just thought, ‘Well, she’s not a student, don’t worry about it,’” she continued, “but he was so gracious and personable and helped me get where I needed to be.”

As it turned out, the chancellor was her ambassador.

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Marchetti, a social work major who will participate in UTC commencement ceremonies this Saturday, May 7, admittedly doesn’t look like a traditional college student.

She obtained an associate’s degree in 1982 from Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. Then the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, native embarked on a professional career that included 25 years working in the massage and healing arts therapy field.

“I had started studying psychology after my associate’s degree and had a few semesters under my belt,” she explained, “but I then decided to become a massage therapist. My business took off.”

When Marchetti was ready to retire in 2015, she came to Chattanooga at the insistence of her mom and stepfather, Joan and Ian Grant. They had relocated to Chattanooga in the 1990s after Ian was offered a position with TVA, where—at the age of 83—he is still employed as a transmission and power supply engineer.

“I had been visiting them for more than 20 years and was able to get to know Chattanooga,” she said. “They were open arms about my moving here.

“I was sort of wondering what to do next in my life, and my mom and I talked a lot about, ‘Why don’t you go to UTC and get your bachelor’s degree?’ I always said, ‘I’ll think about it, but the time has to be right.’”

Marchetti served as her mom’s caretaker until Joan Grant passed away in 2018.

The time was now right. A new chapter—social work—was about to begin.

“I thought it would be a good second career,” she said, “and I truly was inspired by one of my nieces (Carolyn Marchetti) who had gone to college in New York State for social work.

“Social work is very interesting. It combines psychology with my liberal arts education and my massage work in terms of all the counseling I’d done with people over the years. It just made sense to go for social work.”

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Marchetti has never forgotten how the chancellor treated her as that lost, new-to-campus student: “Dr. Angle was an angel.”

With the slow reintroduction of campus events after two years of a pandemic, Marchetti learned about the Chancellor’s Ambassadors program—a unique student group that provides service to the Office of the Chancellor by acting as official hosts and goodwill ambassadors at functions.

“When I saw an opportunity to become a Chancellor’s Ambassador and read the criteria, I thought, ‘This will be a good way to give back something to this University,’” she said.

“It was the most welcoming organization and I was really impressed with how professional they are, how welcoming they are, how friendly they are. And the events that I got to attend are always exciting.”

During her final two undergraduate semesters, Marchetti worked a couple of Mocs football games in the Finley Stadium sky box, multiple faculty and staff events on the Chamberlain Field quad and the Blue and Gold Memorial Service at Patten Chapel.

“They were all very different events and often part of the University that most students don’t get to see,” she said. “It was wonderful to be a part of it while meeting so many great people.”

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Marchetti was asked what she would say to others who have had long work careers but always knew they wanted to obtain a bachelor’s degree.

“Start slowly and get your feet wet,” she said, “and you’d be surprised after one, two, three classes, your brain kicks in big time. So go for it, follow your mission and put your values into action. It’s worth it.

“People always say change is scary—and it is—but it’s also very exciting. The more you better your life and lead the life you want to live, you become a role model for others and fulfill your own dreams. What’s wrong with that?”

Marchetti will fulfill a dream when she walks the McKenzie Arena stage as a new graduate of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies.

“I wouldn’t say that I thought it would be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I wanted the challenge and I thought I could do it,” Marchetti said.

“Graduation, for me, I feel like it’s a lifelong achievement. Getting a bachelor’s now feels amazing. I guess I’m a late bloomer, but I’m really glad I’m blooming this spring.”