A Day in the Life of a... Campus Card Director, Board Member, Mom, Wife and Girl Scout Troop Leader

My days start pretty early – I’m talking 5am-early.  I work four long days, so that I can work a shorter day, from home, on Fridays which makes the kiddo happy because I can walk her to and from school.  Getting up this early allows me to have a quiet breakfast (typically unheard of when your kid gets up before 7:00am on the weekends) and get on the road to beat the crazy Atlanta-area traffic.

I’m on the road around 5:55am and I spend my commute catching up on the podcasts I follow.  Depending on the day, I could be listening Terrible, Thanks for Asking, The Suburban Woman Problem, Everything is Fine or You’re Wrong About.  There is no theme or rhyme or reason, these just appeal to me (and my demographic, I guess) and really make the commute less of a hassle.

I make it to campus around 6:30am, and get my day started.  I know some folks think working at this hour of the day is unheard of, but I get SO MUCH work done before 9:00am!  I have a chance to review emails, reconcile deposits from the previous day, and prepare for meetings.  I swear by my Outlook Calendar – and not just for my daily schedule – I use it to track projects, requests, and everything in between.  If Outlook went down, I’d be in a world of trouble!

Meetings typically start up around 9:00am.  On any given day I could be meeting with colleagues in Campus Life, Security Systems or Dining; presenting at New Employee Orientation; participating in an online NACCU program, Committee or Board meeting; troubleshooting problems with my team; or interacting with customers via email, in-person or through live chat.  And that is all on top of the standard Director-type duties and working on projects . . . tired yet?

At some point I will stop to eat – not because the clock tells me to but because my body does – you know those days when you forget to eat?  If I do actually stop working to eat, I will check social media or watch an episode of a series I am trying to catch up on; recently it has been Superstore or the most recent season of Grown-ish.

The afternoon is more of the same from the morning – meetings, customer interactions, project work, etc.  If in need, and I find the time, I’ll pop out for a caffeine break.  We are definitely not lacking for choices in the coffee area – there are over five unique coffee concepts on our campus – I am not a coffee connoisseur by any means – I just love that I can get coffee from a different shop every day of the week!

That caffeine boost will keep me going until I head out around 4:30pm.  The traffic is significantly heavier at this time of the day, but that gives me more podcast listening time – too bad the traffic does absolutely nothing for decompressing at the end of the day.  I typically get home between 5:30 and 6 and am immediately ambushed with hugs and stories of the day from my second grader.

At this point it’s time to catch up with the family over dinner, cooked by my stay-at-home-dad husband.  We like dinner time to be a relaxed, enjoyable time, sharing the events of our day, but sometimes it’s a rush because we’re off to a Girl Scout meeting.  Somehow, I got roped into being the leader of a troop of 11 Girl Scouts who have been together for two years now.  We are starting our first year as Brownies and I am looking forward to seeing the girls learn, grow and achieve – oh, and sell cookies . . . remember me at Cookie Time!

On the nights we don’t have anything going on we have a quiet, lazy night of Jeopardy, family TV time – right now the kiddo is obsessed with the original Punky Brewster – and then binge-watching obscure, sci-fi/fantasy shows with my husband.  I’m typically in bed before 10pm, so that I can get up and do it all over again. 

Whew!  What a day, but you know what . . . I wouldn’t change a thing.

Kim Pfeffer is a first-term member of the NACCU Board of Directors. She serves as director of EmoryCard at Emory University since 2018, and has over 20 years higher education experience.