Rachel Childress works in Development for the College of Optometry and has been at OSU for 9 years
Why did you choose to work at Ohio State?
After I graduated from OSU, I left for a few years to work at Ohio Wesleyan University. It was a nice place to begin my career and I learned a lot from that first job, but I missed the big-school atmosphere and needed to “come home.”
What do you like about your job?
I like that I get to meet really interesting people, and part of my job is just listening to their stories and connecting that with their ability to give back to the college. I also really enjoy that my daily schedule is always different. Sometimes I’m in the office, sometimes in the car traveling around Ohio and, on occasion, I get to travel around the country.
How do you apply the ‘One University’ concept?
I often meet with alumni who have multiple interests in Ohio State, although many that I meet are focused on supporting Optometry. It’s fun to find out what other interests my alumni have and try to connect them to OSU. Obviously, athletics is one of the easiest with football and basketball games, but I have invited alumni interested in art to exhibits at the Wexner Center as well. The alumni engagement opportunities are endless, and it’s just a matter of making the connections. In the near future we hope to collaborate more with our other Health Sciences colleagues to discover ways in which we can work together to continue engage our alumni.
What is your favorite activity outside of work?
I really enjoy gardening. My mother’s side of the family had a greenhouse business for many years, but it was sold long before I was born. When I was a child, I would do just about anything to get out of weeding and planting in my mom’s and aunt’s gardens, but somehow that green thumb caught up with me and now I can’t seem to have enough yard for all the veggies and flowers I want to grow. The best part though is passing that along to my two daughters, and hopefully it won’t take them 30 years to find out how much they love it too.
What are you going to do when you retire?
I made my husband promise me before we were married that we’ll be snowbirds when we retire. In 2009 we had an opportunity to go to Hawaii, and I think Maui would be a good place to spend a few months each winter starting around 2033 — not that I’m counting. I don’t think I could ever get tired of exploring all that Hawaii has to offer. It is absolutely one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.
To nominate a staff member for TopSpot, e-mail oncampus@osu.edu.