LSC Grads return to give back

For assistant professor Meaghan Meachem, Lyndon State College was a logical choice, considering she was a teaching assistant before graduating several years ago.

"I'm a firm believer that you can't teach without experience," the electronic journalism arts assistant professor said.

Meachem graduated from Lyndon in 2003 with a degree in television studies, and concentrations in broadcast and production. After graduating, she worked at News 10 Now in Syracuse, N.Y. with five fellow Lyndon graduates. She received her master's degree in teaching with technology from the Marlboro College Graduate Center in Brattleboro before returning to LSC in 2008.

For Meachem, her relationships with faculty members as a student were one of the main reasons for choosing to work at LSC.

"I formed bonds with the faculty members," she said. "That experience made me realize it's something I'd want to be a part of."

In 2008, when Meachem was hired as a professor, the TVS department was going through changes that she wanted to be a part of.

"I thought it would be a neat way to give back," she said. "That was really exciting to build something from the ground up. To be able to start from scratch."

According to Meachem, the application process was thorough. She spent a day at LSC speaking to an advisory committee, several deans, President Carol Moore and doing a teaching presentation.

"It was pretty intense," she said. "I was exhausted by the end of it."

Donna Wheeler, another LSC alumna, had a different experience when she was hired to work at the college.

Wheeler is the director of conferences and guest relations at LSC. She began as a student in 1975, earning a degree in recreation and leisure studies with a concentration in ski resort management, and worked in admissions as a work-study student for her four years.

"I was involved in most everything. I've always said to prospective students in admissions that there's always stuff to do here, it's just not handed to you on a silver platter," Wheeler said.

After being involved in admissions as a student, she was offered a job as an admissions counselor her senior year. Because of this, Wheeler did not go through an official application process.

Wheeler was a counselor for a year before being promoted to assistant director of admisisons, a position she held for seven years. In 1987, she took the position of director of special programs and non-continuing education as a way to avoid traveling a lot for work.

"I like the community. It's a caring community," Wheeler said of why she chose to stay at LSC for three decades. "My lifelong friendships are from Lyndon State College. It's been a great nurturing environment."

For Mark Hilton, the interim dean of admissions and associate business professor at LSC, working at the college is something to be proud of.

"I think it's an honor to be at your alma mater," he said, adding that he graduated from LSC in 1984, and attended Plymouth State University to get his master's degree in business administration.

"I had a great experience here. I grew up outside of Boston and fell in love with the college, community, everything," he said.

Hilton said he was originally involved in the aerospace industry, working at Dowty Aerospace, before deciding to return to the Northeast Kingdom. According to Hilton, that decision was based on wanting to see his children grow up in the area.

"It gave me an opportunity instead of traveling all the time," Hilton said of working at LSC. "It was an easier transition for me once I started because I knew the place and the area."

Hilton explained that his time at LSC has affected him as a person.

"Who I became is directly related to my time at Lyndon," he said.

"I think it's passion and commitment to the college," said Dean of Academic and Student Affairs Donna Dalton of why so many alumni return to LSC. "I certainly hear that and to some extent as well, people want the quality of life that's in the Northeast Kingdom."

Dalton says the 49 alumni who work at LSC are able to relate to students.

"They bring an interesting perspective having once been a student here. They know something about how things work or didn't work for them," she said.

Meachem, Wheeler, and Hilton all have family ties to LSC as well. Meachem's sister graduated in 2007, Wheeler's daughter graduated in 2006, and Hilton has two children who currently attend as well.

Alumni/employees at Lyndon State College

Alex Allen, Thomas Archer, Darlene Ballou, David Ballou, Trevor Barski, Mariann Bertolini, Tanya Bradley, Anne Brown, Sarah Butler-Collins, Jody Card, Keith Chamberlin, Theresa Conant, Daniel Daley, Jonathan Davis, Michael Dente, Sandra Franz, Naomi Gallagher, Debra Hale, Jennifer Harris, Susan Henry, Teresa Hersom, Mark Hilton, William Johnson, John Kascenska, Renee Kelly, Gregory Ledoux, Sara Lussier, Peter Mallett, Vincent Maloney, Hannah Manley, David Martin, Jilliam McLaughlin, Patrick McLaughlin, Meaghan Meachem, Darcie Miles, Monique Prive, Nathan Rossetti, Jason Ryan, Tara-Jean Samora, Christine Seymour, Tracy Sherbrook, Edward Simpson, Donna Smith, Jamie Struck, Mark Tucker, Patricia Webster, Isaac Wetherby, Donna Wheeler, Aaron