Staff Spotlight: Summer Hoppenworth

While pursuing her Psychology degree at Flagler College, Summer worked in the mailroom, in Tech Services, and gave tours as an Ambassador. During her time in public education, she found a passion for teaching and accessibility which she has continued to foster in the Department of Institutional Technology.

In her free time, Summer loves to read, listen to podcasts, play D&D, and create art in a variety of mediums. She is excited to continue “Building Her Legacy” at Flagler College and support the campus to the best of her abilities.

What does your position on Flagler’s Staff entail?

As one of the Help Desk Technicians, I support members of the Flagler College community (students, staff, professors, caregivers, etc.) with technical issues daily, in person and over the phone.

How has your professional and educational background informed your work at Flagler?

Everything I do in my current position has been built upon what I learned at Flagler and during my time in public education. My degree mainly focused on lifespan psychology with a dabbling of industrial-organizational psychology.

As I transitioned into public education and worked toward earning my Educator Certification, I was always referring back to what I learned at Flagler. Working in education made me able to adapt to unexpected situations, learn more patience, and realize the importance of professional development. Thankfully at Flagler, the unexpected situations are less stressful than triaging a nosebleed for a Kindergartener!

What do you enjoy most about working at Flagler?

I enjoy how welcoming and supportive everyone has been. I was really worried about leaving my previous job, but when I stepped onto campus again, that worry was gone. I love that I still get to work in a library and that I have a great team!

Tell us about a recent project or goal you’ve completed within your department that you’re proud of.

Most recently, I have been helping out during the transition to Breezeway. I have assisted with User Acceptance Testing, helped to make training documents, led training for the Procurement and Expenses tools in Breezeway, and worked with our team to produce Breezeway Corner. Helping to lead training is the thing I am most proud of. I still love teaching and professional development, so I was grateful to have that opportunity.

Do you have a stand-out memory from working with students or other campus community members?

One that stands out, in particular, is when I was helping a student and their parent on the phone for close to an hour to help them access their account. As we were talking, the student seemed to have similarities to me (youngest child, likes smaller classes, etc). I really enjoyed getting to talk about my experiences at Flagler with the student and their parent. They were very appreciative of the information I shared with them.

What is one thing no one would guess about you?

Even though I love reading and was an elementary librarian, I have never really been a big fan of Harry Potter. I enjoy the movies and went to a few of the midnight premieres with friends, but it didn’t hook me like it did a lot of people my age.

Tagged As

• Alumni
• Faculty/Staff
• General
• Social Sciences