Brittany Gardner is an articulation/degree certification officer in the Office of the Registrar at Eastern New Mexico University. Her position includes a variety of duties, several of which involve helping students with their courses or with their CAPP degree evaluation.

"This new position is showing me a whole new side of the University I hadn't been part of before. The large variety of tasks we complete in one day definitely keeps the day interesting. Currently, my goals for this position are to finish learning it! I am learning something new every day," she said.

Brittany was drawn to her position due to her experiences with working in other parts of the University, including the Office of Enrollment Services, and a curiosity as to how the Office of the Registrar functions. "I was excited to get a position in the Registrar's Office because it is giving me more experience in a different area of the school system. I am hoping to work as a school counselor after I finish my master's, and I knew that having this professional experience would help prepare me for my future career," she described. "I have also always heard great things about everyone in the office, so I was excited to be able to be part of their dynamic."

Brittany started her time at ENMU during her undergraduate studies, where she earned her bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in hospitality management. She is currently working towards her Master's of Education in School Counseling.

Both during her undergraduate studies and after, Brittany's resume revolves around her time at ENMU: "As a student, I worked in the MaxPac and Intramurals. After I graduated, I applied for my first professional position in Enrollment Services as a recruiter and later promoted to the coordinator of Student Recruitment. This was an interesting position where I learned that I love public speaking, and I was given the opportunity to travel to some new areas both within the state and out of the state that I had never been to before.  I also focused a lot on awarding scholarships and waivers to students. Hearing how excited students got when their hard work qualified them for scholarships or waivers was definitely one of the best parts of the position."

Brittany volunteers her time with several different organizations around the Portales area. She has worked as a volunteer softball coach for a local summer team for the past several years, as well as working during Eastern In Action. During her undergraduate career, Brittany was a student-athlete, being asked to join several athletic organizations. "I was recruited to play softball twice and turned them down, one of my biggest regrets, but one day I was running in the Greyhound Arena, and the track coach at the time gave me his card and recruited me right then. I had never run track before but decided to try it out," she said.

Brittany was raised in the military, but Portales is where she considers home. "My parents are from Minnesota; we've lived in Michigan, California, Germany and our last base was Cannon. My parents now live in Florida; my dad is retired Air Force still working with the military, and my mom used to be the ENMU HR Director and is now working with a company that buys and sells land and also owns her own company doing projects for people. I have an older sister and an older brother. My sister lives in Florida, not too far from my parents, with her husband and dog, Jake. My brother lives in Northern California with his wife and their two adorable boys. I try to visit both states once a year," she said.

Brittany has a deep love for traveling, always making an effort to visit new and exciting places. "I try to visit a few new places every year; last year was Nashville, New Orleans and Green Bay. This year's first new place will be Saint Louis.

"One of my favorite trips was I went on a solo cross-country road trip; I drove about 5,000 miles round trip over two weeks. I was able to visit family and friends in a few different states. During the trip, I went in-door sky diving in Kansas City, Missouri, zip-lining and free-falling in Minnesota, visited the Leinenkugel's brewery, went to a rhubarb festival in Duluth and drove through four states I had never been to before," she shared.

"Over this winter break, I visited New Orleans with my parents and grandma; that was definitely an interesting trip. Another favorite was going on a last-minute trip to Dallas, over a long weekend, to hang out with a bunch of friends from college; most of us hadn't seen each other in 4-5 years," said Brittany.

She also enjoys doing "most outdoor activities; there's not a lot of opportunities to do my favorites around here, but every time I go visit my family, it's what we're doing most of the vacation. When I'm not reading textbooks, I really enjoy reading books; I'm typically reading WWII novels or sci-fi. I'm always looking for good recommendations."