November EOM is Melanie Smith

Melanie Smith (holding the baby in the picture at the right), employment services manager in Human Resources, was totally surprised to find herself being honored as Employee of the Month as she walked into her party in PAC C/D on Thursday afternoon.

Wes Weisenburn, assistant vice president for human resources, made the official presentation and briefly recounted Melanie's long association with the university, which began when she was a student worker.

Accepting the honor, Melanie noted that the campus had always been like a "second home" to her. Later on she was still wondering "how everybody pulled this off without me knowing.

"When Wes opened that door, the first person I saw was my sister standing there with a camera. I realized what was happening and turned and went the other way. Apparently, we have a lot of people on campus with good poker faces and I have no idea how this was kept secret!"

She added, "It's one thing to know that someone out there appreciates my efforts enough to have nominated me, but it's an even bigger honor to have looked around that room and to know that all of the people there shared the same sentiment. I am thankful every day to be here, and on the not-so-good days, I have an reminder on my wall that it's not all for nothing: a sign that reads 'Who says HR is a thankless job??' I've surrounded the sign with a variety of thank-you cards I've received over the years.

"This is not just a place that I come to work. This campus became home for me over 14 years ago."

For Melanie, the moment was made even more special by the many family members who were on hand, and who presented her with a big bouquet of flowers.

Krystal Wilson is October EOM

Catering supervisor Krystal Wilson spends a great deal of her time in the PAC restaurant and has seen dozens of Employee of the Month parties. And because the restaurant is a popular spot for EOM and other events, she probably didn't think much about it when Brian Patton sent her through the kitchen doors into the restaurant on Friday morning.

But this time when Krystie walked in, she was met by a hearty round of applause that stopped her dead in her tracks. Surprise! Krystie was Employee of the Month for October.

Brian made the official presentation. "You all know Krystie," he began. "She's probably the most familiar face of the Food Service. She goes all over campus and is a wonderful emissary. She's my best hire so I claim some credit for that. She really deserves this award every month."

Brian explained how Krystie had worked for the Food Service as extra help since 1991, until 2000 when he was finally able to convince her to apply for a full-time position despite her protest that she was "no good at taking tests."

Krystie's acceptance speech was short and sweet: "Thank you to everybody." Then, realizing she wasn't working at this particular event, she exclaimed, "I don't know what to do!"

Her mother and several other family members were among the crowd gathered to help celebrate.