Sue Hollin discusses her time working in the post office and her relationship with the campus community.

How did you start working at the post office?

Well, before I worked at the post office, I worked at the post office in Dee’s Hallmark in the North Side of town. I had gotten to a point in my life where I needed a full-time job. A friend of mine actually knew the lady that used to have my position. She was retiring. It was brought to my attention, so I applied and got it. I haven’t left. It’s been a good job.

What’s kept you here for 12 years?

I like my job. I like what I do; I like that I get to meet different people. The students — I get attached to the ones that work with us, but also in the student body that come to the window, I get to know them. That’s pretty interesting. I like what I do. l like the hours — they’re perfect. It’s nice for having a life at home. I get evenings and weekends off.

What’s your life outside of the office? 

I have two grown daughters and three grandchildren — 15, 11 and 10. My husband and I camp from April to October every weekend. We have a permanent camper site up in Medina. Every Friday, I come home from work and we’re packed. We hop in the car and we go. It’s my lot; I can plant whatever I want. It’s like my second home; it’s nice and it’s peaceful up there. Even I think, “Wow, that’s not that far,” but you pull into the camp grounds and it’s peaceful. It’s in the woods. It feels that it’s far away but it’s close enough to home. So, that’s our big interest. We like to travel, and I like to read a lot.

So the students interact with you by either getting packages or getting stamps. 

Well, yes. They pick up their packages, they mail things, they have questions. Some of them lean on the counter and say, “Sorry, I’m using your counter,” and you just start talking to them. The post office has a lot of ways to interact with them. If someone gets packages a lot, you get to know that person. You just see that name, then, — “oh!” — that name matches that face, then next thing you know, you just start talking to them. There are several students from my first year being here, which was 2007, that I’m still in touch with. With Facebook I can connect with them, and I see who’s getting married and going to school and having kids.

You feel that you’re connected to those students?

Oh yeah. I remember people saying, “Oh, you get too attached,” and they leave. And yeah, some of these students are from really far away, so some of them just need someone to talk to. I mean, I had one student who’d call me his other mother. He wasn’t from around here and he’d come up for advice. Quite a few students do that. I think I’m [connecting] with a few of them. When they graduate it’s like, “Ah! Really? You have to go? Don’t you want to stay another year?” So yeah, you do miss them and stuff. But it’s a good experience for them, too. I’ve had a few come to my house; I’ve had some come over for Thanksgiving dinner because they had nowhere to go. Over Christmas break, there’s some that don’t go home. 

Would you say that anyone needed advice on campus that they would be able to come to you?

I think they already do. I know with some people you just click. I’ve had a lot of them just say, “Hey, can I ask you something,” and I barely know them. They come back later on to say, “Thank you so much, that really worked out.” They remember you that way. When they’re away from home, I can’t imagine their freshman year. You’re kind of lost, even if you lived in Wooster. You’re at a loss about where to go. You know, some of them don’t even know they have mailboxes. They get nervous, and they feel funny because they think they’re asking a dumb question, but they’re not. They’re new, and they’re scared. Sometimes it doesn’t come out right, and that’s okay. You hate to see students spend money on a taxi. Especially when I can say, “I get off at 4 p.m., I can give you a ride,” you know?

Right, you don’t want to see someone struggle, especially if you can help them.

Yeah, because I know how I would feel.  For my daughter, when she went to college, I’d like to know that there’s somebody there that she could go to. I even had a mother send cookies because I helped her son. It was pretty neat, you know. She mailed them to him to give them to me. 

Interview by Jenelle Booker, a Contributing Writer for the Voice (Photo taken from Facebook).