Melanie Duggan

In the Spotlight is an opportunity for the campus community to get to know one another better. The goal is to build Eastern’s community by becoming familiar with the faces of faculty and staff members.

Date: March 4, 2011

Name: Melanie Duggan

Title: Room Assignments Coordinator

Department: Housing and Residential Life

Number of years at Eastern: Four years as a student and five years as an employee.

Brief personal/professional description: I am a daughter, sister, friend and child of God.  I love to watch sports (football especially), read, dance, travel and laugh with friends and family. I’m a busy girl, but will always make time to participate in shenanigans with my friends.

After earning my degree at Eastern, I left for a year to save the world one drug-addicted teenager at a time. One year was enough at that point in my life, so I returned to a wonderful “transitional” opportunity in the Housing Office and haven’t quite “transitioned” out yet. My favorite part of my job is getting to work with students and student staff and feeling like I’m making an impact in their lives (I’m a total cheese ball).

Favorite book: To narrow it down to one is simply impossible, therefore by category they are as follows: Fiction – The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers; Children’s Book – Wacky Wednesday; Non-fiction/Instruction Manual for Life/Inspiration – The Bible

Favorite movie: Since childhood my favorite has been Big starring a young, silly, delightful Tom Hanks! I desperately want the apartment with the giant trampoline, dunkable height basketball hoop, pinball and soda machines that don’t require quarters, and bunk beds!

Favorite restaurant: I simply adore a Sante Fe Chicken Sandwich, no poblano peppers, with corn pasta salad and a Diet Coke at the Elk in Browne’s Addition!

Favorite quote: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Favorite vacation: I have been blessed enough to travel all over the country with some of my very favorite people, but if you are going to force me to choose I’m going to have to shoot with the pilgrimage I took to Cheese Mecca (aka the Tillamook Cheese factory) with my dear friend Megan “Tates” Whelen. We camped at the beach, ate ice cream for breakfast, the best lunch ever, ate about a ton of cheese, listened to live music at Bay City’s 100^th anniversary celebration, had a sunset picnic on the beach featuring a crab gifted to us that had only been out of the ocean for two hours, and rocked out in the car.  It was perfection!

Volunteer activities: I am currently the advisor for EWU’s chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary and for EWU’s Up ‘Til Dawn program working with St. Jude’s.  I sponsor a child in Africa and try to help out with various activities through my church as my schedule permits.

Awards received within the past five years: I was given the NRHH President’s pin for the last two years, and was nominated for a Student Life Excellence Award for Outstanding Student Organization Advisor and it was truly an honor just to be nominated (can you tell I watched the Oscars on Sunday?).

If I could do anything today I would: make it a warm, June evening in my dad’s best friend’s backyard in Cashmere, Wash. All of my friends and family would be there enjoying the soothing sounds of the creek, the breeze rustling the trees in the surrounding orchard, and the ducks swimming around in the pond as we inhale the delicious aroma of BBQ chicken, steak and kabobs grilling on the deck. The very best part however, would be the raucous laughter of all my favorite people echoing off the walls of the canyon as we relax and enjoy each other’s company. Life doesn’t get any better than a good BBQ!