Employee Spotlight: Virginia Trotter

Where are you from?

I grew up in a little town called Bracken in Saskatchewan, but I’ve lived in Lethbridge for the last 40 years. My parents moved to southern Alberta because of the University. My mother decided she wanted to be an accountant so they packed up everything and moved to Claresholm. She commuted to the University each day. She did a lot of bookkeeping but never did become an accountant. Her sons became accountants, so she was happy about that.

How long have you been at the U of L and what do you do here?

I’ve been at the U of L for seven or eight years. I worked at the hospital for 30 years but I came here mostly because of my boss, Judy (Jaeger). She worked with me at the hospital and I wanted to come and work with her again.

I supervise staff and help with training. We don’t have a huge staff in Caretaking and a lot of them have been here for 30 years. They have so much experience they can do their jobs with their eyes closed. Right now, we’re doing a lot of construction cleaning to get the new Science building going and preparing for Convocation. Every single one of our staff wants the place to be perfect for students. We employ a lot of students, also. You get to know them and you want them to have the best day when they graduate.

What’s the best part of your job?

There’s no bad part of my job. I always tell Judy that I can’t believe they pay me to come here. What I really enjoy is being amongst the students. They’re so excited and just at the start of their lives. I really admire them.

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

I’m such an open book I don’t think there’s anything people don’t know about me. I really like to walk in the coulees. I go just about every weekend, either riding the bike or walking with the grandkids. I have five sons and the oldest grandson is 24 and the youngest is two.