MCCer of the Month: Jessi Beckman
Tonya Crenshaw, Leia Hill, Michael Thompson, Jessi Beckman, and Lowell Martin.
Described as a team member who's always willing to roll up her sleeves to get to work,
Jessi Beckman has been named MCCer of the Month for March.
Beckman, an MCC alumna, has worked at the College for three and a half years as the math lab coordinator in the Student Success Center.
The MCC Foundation sponsors this peer-nominated monthly award representing faculty and staff members who are difference-makers. To be selected, the recipient must be a current member of the MCC Foundation and have been employed by the College for at least two years. Recipients are gifted a $250 honorarium.
“There are many students who will only let Jessi help them with their math. They do not want anyone else," said Lowell Martin, Beckman’s supervisor. And it was her part-time job as a math tutor in the College's Success Center for five years that ignited her passion for helping college students. "This led to my shift in career paths after getting my bachelor's in accounting,” Beckman said.
She's currently pursuing a graduate degree in teaching in higher education.
A nominator echoed the helpful qualities that Beckman displays. “She genuinely wants students to be successful and shows interest in making their MCC experience meaningful and making processes run smoothly. Above all, she is an excellent coworker who is supportive and helpful.”
Beckman said her favorite quotes – and she often refers to them - are by two historical figures, entrepreneur Henry Ford and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ford's saying: "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you’re right. Dr. King's quote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
She and her husband Curtis, the College’s Software Coding Technology Program coordinator and instructor, have two daughters, Kristen and Lily. “Our little family includes our boxer, Charlie, and our pug, Bella," she said. When she's not tutoring students, Beckman can be found participating in various fitness classes, including yoga, Pilates, Zumba, Barre, and others. "I also thoroughly enjoy gardening; I have a green thumb, which I undoubtedly inherited from my grandparents, Malcolm and Evelyn Threatt."
Still, it is her students she helps drives Beckman and her work. "The thing I like best about MCC is knowing I can make a difference in peoples' lives and help them achieve their dreams,” she said.
For a complete list of MCCer of the Month recipients, visit meridiancc.edu/mccerofthemonth.