Have you met Torrey, Recruitment and Student Liaison Specialist, and David Bowie fan? Spend the next 2 minutes getting to know him a little better.
Where is your favorite place on campus?
I was an Arts student so my favourite place was always among the stacks in the Rutherford Library. I got most of my studying and work as a student done there. So I still really like Rutherford Library in general, and the special collections that they have are really spectacular. I would say that that’s my favourite place on campus.
Tablet or paper?
Studying — paper. Work — tablet.
Name one thing you’ve brought to work from home.
Probably just my headphones. It’s one of the biggest things I use every day, mostly for music to keep me going.
[Interviewer: Is that Groot up there?]
Yeah that’s my baby Groot. It’s a bobble head, too. That’s my bit of nerdery that I’ve got in my office.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
Coffee. I would say a strong cup of coffee: strong, dark roast, the darker the better.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I’ll probably go to Australia. I’ve spent about six months in Australia and I’d love to go back. It’s a long flight and an expensive flight, so it’s not something you can just get on a plane and do. So if I had that opportunity, probably Australia.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
David Bowie. I’m a big fan of Bowie and was pretty upset when he passed away. The lady across the hallway from me is a big Bowie fan. The day after he died we both wore our Bowie shirts to work. I think they were from the same tour. Mine was an Urban Outfitters t-shirt, not authentic whatsoever, but looked authentic. Hers was actually authentic from the tour before I was born. It was pretty cool.
If you could switch jobs with someone else on campus for a week, what would you do?
While I was still a student, I used to work doing landscaping with Strathcona County. So we were the ones doing the weeding and planting all the flowers. It was hard work but it was really great to be outside in the summer and in the beautiful weather. I’m always jealous of the people I see as I’m walking into the office on a beautiful day. I see them taking care of the flower beds and doing all of the outdoor landscaping work that has to be done during the summer. So during the summer, it would be one of the jobs with the people who are landscaping.
What does “uplifting the whole people” mean to you?
That’s the hard question, isn’t it? To me it means not only providing access to a world class educational experience at an institution with an amazing teaching faculty and spectacular facilities, but also setting up graduating students to go out and make the world a better place regardless of the faculty or program they are coming from. All of our students have the opportunity to change the world, whether it’s through artistic, social, entrepreneurial or scientific pursuits.
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
Access to education. An educated society is a healthy society, and there are so many that do not have the opportunity to learn, grow and shape the world around them.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
Eye opening, challenging, fulfilling.
About Torrey Dance:
Torrey Dance is the Recruitment and Student Liaison Specialist for the Faculty of Engineering. After completing a Sociology/Psychology degree in the Faculty of Arts (and also working at the Students’ Union Centre for the Student Development office), Torrey traveled and came back to the U of A to work in recruitment. Torrey has recruited future U of A students while working for the Registrar’s Office, as well as the Faculty of Education, before moving to Engineering.