Staff Spotlight: Lauren Gladu

Q: How did you end up at Amherst?

A: I was a student worker; I wasn’t an Amherst College student, but I started working here when I was in high school [as] a summer employee, working [at] the service desk. Then I got a full-time job in dining services as their receptionist. Then, after two or three years, I went to the registrar’s office, and did the same thing [working as a receptionist] for two or three more years. And then this job [as the Spanish department coordinator] came up back in 2013 and it was part-time in the summers. They actually recruited me — the woman [who] used to work here called me from the registrar’s office. She was like, “I think you'd be great.” And I was like, “Okay, let’s do it.” Been [in the Spanish department] for 12 years.

Q: And have you lived in Amherst your whole life?

A: I grew up in Greenfield, which is 30 minutes away from here, and then went to [University of Massachusetts, Amherst]. My husband and I live in Hadley, which is a five-minute ride away. He’s also the supervisor of the HVAC department here, so he oversees heating, air conditioning, plumbing, and preventative maintenance for all the buildings on campus.

Q: What are your day-to-day responsibilities as a department coordinator?

A: It depends on the year. Recently, I was coordinating all the [Spanish] classes for the next academic year, thinking about “What do my professors want to teach? When do they want to teach? [Do they need] new course descriptions?” [I also] coordinate events a lot. It’s my specialty. I figure out the catering, the venue, what they need for tables, chairs, tablecloths, let them know who needs to pick up what, when, and why, and how.

Q: What’s your favorite part of the job?

A: I love my department. My professors are amazing. It’s flexible. We have meetings here and there. They are just very pleasant. They’re just very nice people, and I really appreciate that, because sometimes being a staff member, you can kind of feel a little bit lower class in a way, but my department doesn't make me feel that way at all. They really appreciate me, and I appreciate them for that.

Q: So you’ve seen Amherst through all these different years. Do you think it’s changed a lot in the time you’ve been here?

A: The new construction is different; the Science Center doesn’t quite fit the old school buildings in a way. I work in [Barrett Hall], one of the oldest buildings. But I really enjoy the new spaces that I get to use, like O'Connor Commons. When [the space] first became [available] online, I was like, “I could teach Zumba there.”

Q: You teach the Zumba Fitness classes on campus. How did you get involved with that?

A: I became a Zumba instructor in 2011; it was a friend of mine [who] wanted to also become an instructor, and I was like, “Okay, I'll go with you.” So we went to training and never looked back. I wanted to work out but didn’t want to pay for it. So if I’m the instructor, I get paid to be working out, right? And then I just kept going with it. I’ve done it here since 2011.

Q: Has the Zumba community changed over the years?

A: I used to teach in the Conway classroom at the Alumni Gym. That’s much smaller — [the class] was exploding out of the door. I had to start five minutes early because the room was full. I would put a sign on the door that said, “If the doors closed, don’t come in.” Nobody listened. They still came in. Everyone was elbowing each other in class. So then finally, O’Connor popped up as an option. Even when it’s really full and it feels a bit uncomfortable, there’s still space.

Q: How has your interaction been with students at the college? Both in the Spanish  department, but also at Zumba?

A: I interact more with students at Zumba, honestly. I don’t see a lot of people I get to know [in the Spanish department]. I know the seniors [who] are Spanish majors a little bit, but most of the time it’s that I know all their names, but I’ve never seen their faces. Unless they come to Zumba, because I check the sign-in sheet and I’m like “Who's that? Let me see if I can look them up.”

Q: Lastly, do you have any advice for students — anything that you think that you’ve learned working in all these spaces [in Amherst]?

A: Just have fun? I mean within reason, of course. A lot of the feedback I’ve had from [students at] Zumba is “We don’t necessarily come to your class to burn calories and get strong — it’s for stress relief.” And I really appreciate that, because I know you guys have a lot on your plate. If you can just take 45 minutes out of your day, come to class, listen to music, and just release from the day, even if you’re like, “I hate it. I don’t want to be here right now,” I promise you’ll feel better when you leave. I do the same thing when I work out. Sometimes I don’t even want to teach. I’m tired. I’d rather sit on my couch. And then after I’m done, I’m like, “This is great. I want to do this again. Let’s do it again.”