January 13th - Andre

About six years ago, I had a problem.  I was back in town for only a day before I had to head back out on a recruitment trip for the undergraduate admissions office.  And my (laptop/phone/other piece of technology that I can't quite remember now) was broken.  It was something that I had done to it, and I was afraid that because of my foul up, I'd be in trouble with the higher ups.  I needed help, but I was sure that no one was in the IT office.

I went to the IT office on the off chance that someone was there (more to ease my mind that, yup, I tried everything, I even went to IT on a Saturday).  But to my surprise, someone was, in fact, in the office and ready to help. That someone was Andre, and he got my (laptop/phone/other piece of technology that I can't quite remember now) back in working order.  He was a huge help, and was funny and easy going.  I've seen him in passing many times over the last six years, and he's always been the same.

Like so many people on campus, my interactions with Andre have been transactional (I need something fixed, he comes and fixes it).  Yesterday, I sat down with him to change that.



Andre

Andre is originally from Flint, Michigan, and it was very interesting to talk to him about what's been going on up there.  His mom still lives there, and he said he gets through the day using a lot of bottled water.  Things are getting better up there now that there has been national attention, but it's still not out of the woods yet.  "I didn't grow up drinking the water from the Flint River, it's been a problem for a long time."

Andre has been with the IT office at High Point University for almost six years now.  "I like it," he said, "I'm still here!"

When he first started, he was a hardware specialist.  Usually working on the weekends, he did everything from fix students laptops to help frantic staff members that had an emergency.  He liked it because it took him all over campus, but he has since moved on to working as a network analyst.  His big project last summer was to beef up the outdoor wireless all across campus. He says that he took a computer course here and there through the years, but most of his IT knowledge is self taught.

This is mostly because Andre didn't always see himself working with computers.  "It was a hobby at home for me for a long time," he said, "my skill set was actually nursing.  After high school, I joined the service and was the equivalent of a PA there.  I got out after a few years, but once 9/11 happened, I re-enlisted in the Army Reserves and was a medic."

In an example of this being a truly small world, Andre's old career and new profession came together a few months ago.  He had worked as a medical assistant at an adult health center here in High Point under Dr. Lim, who is now one of our professors in the Physician Assistant program.  One day, he went back to her office on an IT call and was surprised to see her.

"Dr. Lim! Do you remember me?" he asked.

"I could never forget Andre!" she replied.



What is your favorite joke?

Andre: I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of guy anyway, so I laugh at the silliest stuff.  Weird stuff makes me laugh.


What's the meal that reminds you most of home?

Andre: McDonald's.  My younger brother is 18 years younger than I am, and my mom was a single parent so we ate out a lot.  Those Happy Meals were my favorite.  Every once in awhile we would have a home cooked meal, but mostly it was going out or bringing something home.  And McDonald's is what I remember most of all.


If you could bring back one musician, who would it be?

Andre: Right off the top of my head I've gotta say Michael Jackson.



Will the world be better or worse in 20 years?

Andre: I don't know to be honest.  I know that my contribution is that I'm going to make sure it's positive.  Any negative situation...you can always pull some positives from it and make it different.



What was the most significant event that happened in 2016?

Andre: Donald Trump becoming President. That was, especially with the media coverage...well...here we are (we both laugh at this). Let's see if he does any different than everyone else.  You have to have an open mind about it.

Here's the thing.  I voted the way I voted, and sometimes it doesn't work out how you planned.  But I believe that things happen for a reason.  I believe in a Higher Power, and that Higher Power thought that Trump was the better choice right now for the country.  At the end of the day, we will have to see how it all shakes out but we have to be positive.



I really enjoyed talking to Andre, because he's still funny and easy-going after all these years.  His positive attitude is infectious, and I really look forward to talking with him more in the future.

I think he appreciated this project, because he mentioned how much he liked the staff meeting on Thursday. "It's really easy to get focused on just your job, you forget about everyone else on campus and what they have to do to make this place work. The meeting (where we had randomly assigned seats) was a great way to get people out of their comfort zones."

Andre: It's amazing the connections you make from things like that.  Or the birth announcement email (we get an email whenever someone who works at the university has a child).  I had no idea that Karen in Academic Services was the mother of someone in admissions.

Lars: If you see the two of them standing together, you know right away.

Andre: But still, I didn't know and I thought that was really cool to find out through that email.  I feel like if more people took the time to get to know one another it would be a really good thing, not just across campus but everywhere.

Agreed.