By Isabelle Mascary | Editor-in-Chief
Ann Reynolds is the Academic Disability Counselor and Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) advisor at the Mount. She works primarily with student-parents and students with disabilities. She also oversees the child watch program on campus. Prior to moving to the United States thirty years ago and joining the Mount Community, Reynolds lived in England.
Before college, Reynolds was a stay-at-home mom. “I was a substitute teacher in a very past life, pre-children. I used to decorate windows in England as well.”
She actually started part-time at the Mount. “I came to school here at the Mount in 2009. I graduated in 2012, but I was working as a tutor in the tutor center,” she explained. Her major at that time was human services. “I stayed working as a tutor, and I transferred to Assumption and went into their bachelor’s program as a Human Services and Rehabilitation study.”
After she obtained her bachelor’s degree, she was informed about the CCAMPIS position by Karen Costa. “She told me that I should go for the CCAMPIS position, but I told her, ‘I don’t know anything about early childhood, even though I have four children.’” Despite her doubts, she applied and got the job. “I realized fairly quickly that my position was more in support of the student-parent, and then I connected with people on a national level because of going to the conferences and realizing how huge this was. It was wonderful that there was so much out there,” she shared.
While she attended school for her master’s in rehabilitation counseling, Reynolds still worked part time. “I have two roles, but they mesh well,” she said. “One moment you’re working with student-parents, and the next moment you’re working with students with disabilities.”
Admittedly, academics were not her strongest suit as a teenager. “I left school at sixteen. I was not academic at all,” she shared, explaining, “I ran out of the school gates at sixteen and didn’t turn back.” Despite leaving school at a young age, Reynolds was fortunate enough to secure a job at a local department store that sent her to college twice a week. “It was like a technical school,” she said. Off to London she went to learn how to set up window displays and interior displays for stores. “I loved what I did, and I did that for years.” Reynolds also traveled and had a successful business before traveling to Australia on a whim, where she met her husband.
“We lived in England for the first four years,” she said. “We had two children there, and then we came here and had two children here. Two Americans and two British; two boys and two girls.”
The cultural lifestyles were definitely different. During her first few years in the United States, Reynolds shares that she was depressed. “I was a young mom, and I was six months pregnant when I came here,” she said. “I already had a one-year-old and I had a three-year-old, so it was tough.”
After slowly acclimating, she found herself in between two worlds, with one foot in the US and one foot in England. While getting used to American culture, Reynolds visited home as often as she could with her husband and children. For Reynolds, it was interesting to witness her children flip between the two languages, considering that two of them were born in England. “There’s different words for different things,like a biscuit is a cookie, a nappy is a diaper.” She shared. “They [her children] flipped between that fairly easily.” Last year was the first time Reynolds has gone to England since her father died. “We’ve gone there for vacation, and here we are spending time in a familiar place, but none of it was familiar to me because we haven’t been there for so long.” Despite it all, she stated, “I still say home is England.”
When others learn of her background, a common question that she is always asked revolves around the royal family. “A lot of people ask about the royal family, but I do not know them,” she admitted with a laugh. “I didn’t know them then, and I most certainly don’t know them now.”
When asked what she does to destress, she stated, “I do like to watch a good series on TV, and I do read a lot.” Her favorite book is The Red Tent. Recalling a past time, she recalled that she used to belong to a book club many years ago. She was fascinated and amazed by a book called The Women’s Room by Marlene French and recommended it to the group. “It was very feminist, and my mind was blown,” she explained. “I suggested we read The Women’s Room because I remember it being really good. Now we have a group of women reading a 1960s, very feminine book, and they go, ‘What the heck?’” Outside of reading, Reynolds loves to travel with her husband and attend different concerts and plays. One of her challenges now is learning how to knit. “I keep trying, but then I become frustrated and leave it for months then go back at it,” she said, laughing. “My mother was a knitter. I’m going to get through it because I really want to knit.”
What she admires most about her profession are the student-parents. “I’m impressed with how hard student parents work,” she said. Even though she was a student-parent herself prior to joining the Mount community, she said, “I was fortunate enough to have a significant other to support me. Some don’t.” At the time, Reynolds had one child in college, one in high school, and two in middle school. “Having young children, especially in this climate, is so hard,” she expressed. “I tip my hat out to those who do this alone.”
To help with that, Reynolds can connect students to the services that MWCC offers. Whether it’s a student facing eviction or not knowing how they are going to put food on the table, though she may not have all the answers, “I can definitely try to help get students connected so they succeed in school,” she reassured.
Her words of advice to students are, “Time management and communication are keys to anything in life. Use a planner and always ask questions.” She said, “If you’re unsure of how to communicate with a professor or department but you know someone on campus that you can talk to, go and ask them for help to do it.” There’s never, as they say, a stupid question.
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