Have you met Bev, Administrative Assistant in the Faculty of Native Studies? Spend the next few minutes getting to know her a little better.
Where is your favorite place on campus?
Quad. Any time of year except for first week in September when it’s booming. It’s always busy, there’re all kinds of activities. I love it in the winter time when the lights are out.
Tablet or paper?
Paper. I don’t even have a cell phone!
Name one thing you’ve brought to work from home.
I can’t say just one thing, I’ve been on campus for almost thirty years! This is my second home.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
Food food food. We love food here.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
There’re two places on my list still: Machu Picchu — I’m kind of worried the altitude would be too much for me, but I know I could do it — and Cinque Terre.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
My grandmother. I never knew my grandmother. She passed away in a car accident before I was born. It feels like some of our history was lost with her. I would love the chance to be able to ask her questions.
If you could switch jobs with someone else on campus for a week, what would you do?
I love plants, so groundskeeping or something in the greenhouse. Or maybe in the botanical gardens. Something with plants.
What does “uplifting the whole people” mean to you?
Inspiring hope. A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a ceremony for one of our alumni who had been appointed to the bar. She was from a small Inuit community and her family was here, community members were here, an elder was here — it was a very uplifting experience.
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
Poverty. If there was no poverty, there’d be no child hunger, there’d be less crime… it’s kind of a domino effect.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
Challenging, Rewarding, (sometimes) Frustrating — I was in government before I came here, and I was bored to death. I’ve never been bored since I came here! It’s an amazing place to work.
Beverly is Métis. She was born and raised in Edmonton, and first began working at the School of Native Studies in 1988. She enjoys bowling, cross country skiing, camping, beading, and playing Texas hold’em poker. She also recently learned how to tuft caribou hair, and it’s one of her newest methods of relaxation.