By Zoë Corwin

I have now been working at the Pullias Center for more than two decades. I’m honestly not sure where the time has gone, especially when I compare the photos of my dear colleague, Diane Flores, holding my newborn son with a recent one of her and the same son, who is now nearly  20-years old.

When I reflect on why I’ve remained at Pullias for so long, the answer is simple: 

1. I’ve been involved in meaningful, interesting research-to-practice work here — much of which is innovative and impactful; and 
2. I have worked alongside stellar colleagues — students, faculty and staff. The latter reason is woven into the quality of my day-to-day existence. Sounds very dramatic, doesn’t it? But given the world we’re navigating — and given how much of my time is dedicated to work — those relationships have really mattered in my life.

Until recently, I hadn’t seriously reflected on the transient nature of professional relationships in academe. Each year when graduation day rolls around, my heart always aches a little, knowing that I will not enjoy regular interactions with students who have uplifted my spirits in the workplace. I have learned much from PhD, EdD and MA students — several of whom are now cherished friends. Those relationships have expanded how I think and pushed me to reflect on how I exist in the higher ed space — and also, the world. When a student leaves, often another student enters into the workplace, and subsequently, another opportunity to connect and learn arises. And conferences, social media and Pullias Center events offer the chance to check in with prior colleagues. I have grown used to this cycle.

While I have always deeply appreciated working alongside phenomenal staff and faculty colleagues at Pullias, I hadn’t realized how much solace I had taken in the continuity of those relationships. So last week, when longtime Pullias Center Administrative Assistant Diane Flores retired – just a few months after our Administrative Grants Manager Monica Raad retired, two women I have worked with for decades, I felt quite unmoored. To work alongside someone for so long, you learn their strengths and idiosyncrasies — they both knew and managed mine with sincere care. If you’re fortunate in your work relationships, you also support each other’s family’s triumphs and heartbreaks — updates on births and children’s growth (and in Diane’s case, grandchildren!), health challenges, even pets. We have also shared heartbreaking communal losses and huge positive accomplishments related to our collective work. I could not be happier for both Monica and Diane on their well-deserved retirements. And once I set aside my own selfish sadness about missing the daily interactions, I am filled with a massive sense of gratitude for the varied ways that Monica and Diane made my work life better over the course of 20 years. I know I speak for the many, many faculty, staff, and especially students who have navigated their time as USC/Rossier/Pullias when I convey deep gratitude for the countless ways both Monica and Diane have supported us, mostly behind-the-scenes, without fanfare.

Pullias Center alum Jordan Harper has conducted research on the role of administrative assistants in higher education context, writing that “these individuals, whose voices and perspectives have long been marginalized, play a crucial role in sustaining both the university and the people within it — holding intimate personal and institutional knowledge, as well as secrets few can know.”  This resonates for Diane and Monica. I am grateful that I had a front row seat at the Pullias Center to witness the significant role that both played in making the Center what it is today. Luckily, they also helped build a foundation to sustain our work moving forward.