Lekeshia Parker

What year did you start working at NIU?
2024

Where is your hometown? and where do you live now?
My hometown is Chicago, and I currently live in DeKalb.

In what department do you work?
College of Business technology resources

Where did you attend school? What degree(s) did you earn?
Northern Illinois University, B.A. in art.

If you attended college, were you a first-generation student? If so, what advice would you offer to current first generation students?
Yes, I was a first-generation student. I would advise first-generation students to go away for college, get the experience of living on campus and away from your family. Be open to new things and friends, explore as much as you can and take the classes seriously. There are very few do-overs, so have a good balance between fun and studies.

Describe your typical day—what do you do while at work?
My typical day at work would be first checking the announcement monitors and all active classrooms to make sure they are functioning properly. Then I would just be available for technical help for faculty and staff throughout the day.

What do you like about working at NIU?
What I like about working at NIU is the staff in the building. They are very welcoming, and when they come across a technical issue, they are very understanding with allowing me time to fix it for them. I also like that I am learning almost every day, whether about new technology or just how the university works in general.

What advice would you give to students currently attending NIU?
The advice I would give would be to continue to push through. There are a lot of challenges that come with being a college student, and a lot of the time, we try to deal with them ourselves. But I suggest using your resources. There are plenty of people on campus who can help you with whatever you need as a student.

What is important for students to know about the office/department that you work in? What student services does your office provide?
It is important to know that we help students by providing loaner laptops during the school year. This can help alleviate some the of the stress they experience if they can't afford a laptop, or if their personal one breaks down on them during the semester.

In what ways do you see your colleagues help student success?
I have seen them assist in choosing classes or giving guidance on what students should take based on their career goals. I have also seen great events during finals week to help relieve some of the stress the students face during that time, such as having puppies here to cuddle, a massage area and catered-in food for the students.

What is your favorite memory of NIU?
My favorite memory of NIU would be my first weekend on campus as a freshman. There was a welcome BBQ hosted by the Zeta Phi Beta sorority. It had other orgs doing a mini step show for us, great food and resources for how to find our classes on the first day.

What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?
I believe I'm most proud of earning my degree and also of coming back to work for NIU. I wanted to work for the university IT dept for years, so being chosen for this position was surprising and fulfilling.

What fulfills you personally and professionally?
What fulfils me personally is seeing my children play sports. I enjoy it so much, and I would do anything to be at all of their games so they can hear me cheering for them no matter what. Professionally, being able to help someone solve their issue is fulfilling for me, as well as hearing them say, “Thank you, I'm glad you're here.”

Which of NIU’s core values align with your own?
The value of equity and inclusion aligns with my own core values, because I believe in treating everyone the same. No matter what position you work, you will get the same respectful treatment. I believe that gaining ideas from a bunch of different ways is always better than sticking to the same thing all the time; it provides a wider range of creativity.

What did you want to be when you were growing up? Are you currently doing it? If not, what changed your path?
When I was growing up, I wanted to be a professional athlete. I wanted to run track for the U.S. Olympic team, and if I couldn't do that, then graphic design was my fallback career. I injured myself my junior year of high school and could barely run the speed I was running before, so I stayed with just being a jumper. In college, that injury got worse to where I couldn't jump either, so I stopped running track all together. During my junior of college, I gave birth to my daughter. After graduating college, I took any job I could to provide for her, which was working for Best Buy. So, I wasn't focused on either dream anymore, just the reality of being a parent.

What do you do to relax or recharge?
I watch “SVU.” It’s my favorite TV show, and it’s relaxing to be solving cases LOL.

Do you have any hobbies or interesting personal pursuits you're involved with in your spare time?
Currently I am playing for a co-ed flag football league in Chicago, and I love it. It keeps me in shape, and I am an athlete at heart, so I'm always looking to participate in any sport I can.