(Brent Schwert)
Sage RHD Margo Bertram grew up in the small town of Princeton, Illinois and has spent the majority of her life in central Illinois. One of her previous jobs was as high school government and world history teacher.
She says teaching “was pretty much funny every day–you have to have a sense of humor doing that job.” Another of her jobs was being a janitor for her previous high school during summers home from college. “I’ve spent a whole lot of time scraping gum,” Margo remarks.
Before Lawrence, Margo attended Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Illinois and received her bachelor’s degree in history. Illinois Wesleyan is very similar to Lawrence in that it is a small liberal arts school; however, it does have a somewhat larger student population of about 2,200. She likes Appleton because it reminds her of Bloomington.
Aside from her daily duties of being the Sage RHD, Margo’s collateral position on campus is the Health and Wellness Program Coordinator. This entails working hand in hand with the Counseling Center and acting as a go-between for students.
She works with the Counseling Center to create programs addressing balance issues pertaining to students’ lives including such topics as sleep, stress and depression. Mental Health Week is a program she has been working on which will be coming soon.
As to Lawrence, she really likes the vibe on campus. Margo said, “I identify more with the students here than at other schools I’ve been at. I identify with the driven mentality, but students here also don’t have blinders on. They know about world issues and aren’t afraid to talk about them. I have already been engaged in several drop-of-the-hat discussions about world issues.”
To Margo, Lawrence is a small, tight, family-like community and “whether or not it’s a good thing, everyone seems to know everyone else’s business. But then again, I think Facebook has something to do with that.”
When asked about her funniest experience on campus thus far, she smirks and speaks of a night walking from Hiett towards the Sage area behind a group of girls that had been having a “fun night.” Once the group of them got to the Union, one of the girls “apparently decided she couldn’t hold it anymore and went pee in the bushes outside the Union with everyone watching. None of her friends seemed to think anything was wrong, but I quickly got away. Luckily I didn’t know any of them, so it hasn’t been awkward since.”
Above all, Margo loves her job as Sage RHD. She remarked, “My staff is amazing. I love them all, and I love working for Amy Uecke. She’s a great boss. This is one of the best employment opportunities that I’ve had.
