“I am very grateful for my time at Emory and I will always cherish the memories of my colleagues and students.” – Lee Pasackow
After over 12 years at Emory, Lee Pasackow is moving on to new challenges as a retiree. I sat down with her recently to talk about her time as a librarian in the Goizueta Business Library at Emory.
Q: So what made you decide to retire?
Lee: I’m looking forward to being in charge of my own schedule and I want to get involved in volunteer work with non-profit organizations. Already volunteer on a regular basis but I’d like to be more involved. I have a lot of things I want to do.
Q: What type of volunteering do you want to do?
Lee: I’d like to tutor and teach some classes. I plan to explore an after-school program for Hispanic students that also works with their parents. I’d like to teach citizenship classes for new immigrants. I’m also exploring the possibility of teaching in the prison system.
Q: What is the thing you will remember the most about your time at Emory?
Lee: There are so many opportunities here so I have always enjoyed going to events at the Business School and the University in general. I like being on various distribution lists such as sustainability and the Fox Center for Humanities. I’ve also enjoyed attending lectures, taking classes, volunteering at work, and attending conferences.
Q: How was it working with the students?
Lee: In trying to get the students to use our services, I found that by getting involved in their activities, such as clubs, case competitions, working with the career management center and orientation, it makes the students much more willing to see that we are a friendly team that is willing to help them. Once we established good relationships it was easier to promote our services.
Q: Do you have any regrets?
Lee: I regret that I didn’t take more time to go out to lunch with colleagues in the library and on campus. I really recommend that to people. Put it on your calendar and make a point to get out at least once a week…if not more.
Q: Any other advice?
Lee: I recommend that people take advantage of the courtesy scholarships, that you can use after 5 years at Emory. I had audited some classes, but when you sign up to take a class for a grade it becomes a much different experience. I took five semesters of Spanish and it was one of the best things I have ever done. You would think those classes aren’t related to business but actually there were always business students in the classes plus you get a much greater understanding of what students are going through. You understand the pressures they are under.
Q: What did you do before Emory?
Lee: I was a competitive analyst at PeopleSoft and came to Atlanta to help do market research. I’m originally from Vermont. I’m not going back however. I plan on staying here because there are so many volunteer opportunities in Atlanta.
Q: Tell me about your travels abroad for work.
Lee: Together with professors, I co-led 5 MBA International Colloquiums to Turkey (3 times), Colombia and Portugal. I had three Fulbright Specialist grants. I would encourage everyone to check out World Learning for more information. I learned about the program through an information session at Emory. I went to Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, and Turkey. It’s an incredible opportunity. Grants can be from two to six weeks, the time flies by quickly, and it’s worthwhile because our community has so much to offer. Being an ambassador was amazing and we always have something to learn from other people and cultures.
Q: Any last thoughts?
Lee: I am very grateful for my time at Emory and I will always cherish the memories of my colleagues and students.