Name: Laura Reber
Job title: Training Specialist
Department: Human Resource Services and Information Systems
How long have you worked at Whitworth? Three years
What do you like best about your job? I always say I have the best job on campus – it’s like being a cruise director: I get to meet all of the new people coming aboard and interface with them in their first year with our NEO programs (New Employee Orientation); I get to help people find their way around Microsoft applications with on-call help and training sessions; I get to find new ways to challenge our outstanding crew with personal and professional development; and I get to be involved in planning and organizing the fun community-building events that HR sponsors.
In what ways do your gifts and abilities help meet the needs of the campus community you serve? My Strengths Finder* list is Connectedness, Learner, Intellection, Relator and Empathy, and I use all of these on the job at one point or another. It’s my intention that I provide training and support in a manner that allows individuals to be confident about who they are, what they know, and what they are learning, and to plant the seeds of transformation that enhance personal and professional excellence, which in turn supports of our mind-and-heart mission. (*Ask me about the Strengths Finder assessment!)
Favorite book: Sacred Roads: Adventures from the Pilgrimage Trail, by Nicholas Shrady
Favorite movie: I don’t watch a lot of movies, but I enjoy a light-hearted comedy, action-adventure or “chick-flick” involving travel or exotic places.
Favorite food: Italian, Thai, Mexican… what’s cooking?!
Favorite quote: “No matter where you go, there you are.”
Favorite music: I’ll listen to just about anything...my Pandora list includes genres such as jazz, crooners, New Age, movie soundtracks, world music, “oldies,” club/dance, and pop.
Favorite animal: Dog – especially my two basset hounds, Owen and Watson!
Guilty pleasure: Tiramisu gelato
Hobbies: Writing, painting, cooking/entertaining, gardening, travel and photography… to name a few.
Best vacation ever: All of my travels are meaningful in their own way, but those that immediately come to mind are a Baltic Heritage Cruise, which included a day trip into Moscow (standing in Red Square was pretty trippy); my solo trip to Norway and Italy for 40 days; and the last trip I took to the Oregon Coast with my dad before he passed. Say “Road trip!” and I’m there.
Birthplace: Spokane – in fact I was raised, educated, and have lived and worked all within a five-mile radius of the Whitworth campus my entire life. I suspect that’s why travel is so appealing to me. ;-)
We’d be surprised to know that…I can say the alphabet backwards.
I collect…memories.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Hmmmm…where wouldn’t I go?
What fictional character best describes you? Yoda
If you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt? I would open a series of wilderness retreat centers focused on alternative healing, spiritual support, and artistic endeavors; in the desert, at the ocean, in the mountains, and with options for group travel-retreats.
What is your favorite sound? Water! Ocean waves, raging rivers, babbling brooks, raindrops on a tin roof, and backyard fountains.
What is your life motto? “Sure, why not?!”
If the whole world was listening, what would you say? “Can you hear me now?” because I like to start on a lighter note, then I’d whisper, “Be still…” and suggest a few deep cleansing breaths.
Favorite childhood book: Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
Favorite childhood TV show: “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” (Did I just carbon date myself
Least favorite word: Should
If you could go on a road trip with anyone (from the past or present), who would you choose and where would you go? In 2006 I visited Tromsø, Norway, 350k north of the Arctic Circle. This time I would take my Dad and go back in the 1870s to meet my great grandfather and see how he lived prior to immigrating to the U.S.
Best high school class subject: Honors English
