‘Always Take the High Road If You Can’

My responsibility is to make sure our residence halls and small woodframes are a healthy environment for our students to live in. With more than 60 residential buildings on campus, there’s always a new challenge. I’ve learned a little about pretty much everything that makes our buildings work. I’m glad to be a jack of all trades so when questions come in, I have at least a sense of where to start to find the answer.

When a problem arises, you want to resolve the actual issue, of course. But many times, when a parent calls with a concern, there’s often other things going on, and it can be complicated. But it’s important for families to know that someone’s listening. Even with concerns outside our area, I will never put off a parent or student. If I don’t know how to handle their concern, I take their phone number and let them know that I’m going to do some legwork and then call them back to tell them what I found out. I'm going to have a conversation with other folks, you know? I can call somebody from OEO or from Campus Life or Athletics and ask, ‘Hey, let's talk about this. What ideas do you have about how to solve this problem?’ I will never just transfer those calls. I’m going to guide the person to the answer.

Everybody should be doing that. I know it's hard, and people have bad days or whatever. Or maybe it's not one of your strengths to be able to work with people. I get it. But always take the high road if you can. A little honey is a heck of a lot better than vinegar.

When I retire, I’d like to be remembered as someone who had people's backs, someone who I cared about what I did—and about the students and the people I worked with. Hopefully, I’ve made Tufts a better place for a few people.

—Jen Bevins is the residence facilities manager for the university’s Medford/Somerville campus.

Our Tufts is a series of personal stories shared by members of the Tufts community and featured on both Tufts Now and Instagram.