In May, Virginia Western announced its 2021 special awards for faculty and staff. Perhaps you noticed Wendy Holmes, a Financial Aid and Records Specialist, won two awards: (1) Classified Outstanding Achievement Award and (2) the STAR Award (Service, Teamwork, Achievement, and Results).

This seemed like a huge accomplishment — and I was struck by the comments that accompanied her awards in the weekly Bulletin:

“Wendy’s performance at Western has always been record-breaking in terms of the volume of positive interactions she has had with current and prospective students, parents, faculty, staff, and the general public. … She goes beyond the call of duty in ensuring that whether it is an individual’s first or last encounter with Virginia Western, when they come to Chapman Hall or utilize the 24/7 Student Support Center, that the support services provided will be of the highest quality. Their response will be accurate, equitably, timely and conveyed in a way that is easily understood.”

I didn’t know Wendy, who has worked at Virginia Western for almost nine years. But I could tell from these comments that she is cultivating a culture of care through all of her positive interactions. I wanted to know more about her backstory and what she finds meaningful about her work. I also wanted to know what questions she gets asked the most, so we could all be ready with answers for students or prospective students.

So I reached out to Wendy with a long list of questions, which she kindly answered on the Green House Grants Blog.