Spotlight on CASL Staff Member Sharon Rose Piwang

March 25, 2024

Enjoy the following Q&A with Sharon Rose Piwang, Administrative Assistant, Department of Language, Culture, and the Arts

Name:  Sharon Rose Piwang
Position:  Administrative Assistant, Department of Language, Culture, and the Arts
Time at UM-Dearborn: 3 months

What does a typical workday look like for you? 

Perhaps it’s too soon to tell, since I haven’t been here that long, but I haven’t really had a typical workday so far. I’ve done a lot of things: event planning, making coffee, making reservations, giving directions, ordering supplies, editing letters, compiling reports, offering chocolate to visitors who come into the office, offering a listening ear to distraught students, unlocking doors, locking doors, making tea, putting up holiday decorations, sending emails, updating calendars, making appointments. I’ve had to stand outside CASL and direct a pizza delivery person who was hopelessly driving around in circles. I’ve taped up hawk shaped cutouts to deter birds from flying into office windows. I’ve gotten down on the ground to fix a paper jam in a recalcitrant printer. I usually try to get to work with an attitude of readiness, and I try to be prepared to respond to requests and follow directions.  

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love that I get to help people behind the scenes! There’s a significant amount of effort that goes into administration that you only notice when you’re directly involved in it. I’ve only just started learning, and I’m amazed at seeing all the things that someone has to take care of so that other people can do their job more efficiently. I’m looking forward to learning how to anticipate problems so that I can solve them almost before they happen. That’s a rare gift and a skill that sometimes goes unnoticed, and I would love to develop that. My department administrator is a perfect example of someone who possesses that skill; she’s basically a superhero. She’s able to think in several directions and take care of at least ten issues at the same time before anyone else detects that there’s even an issue. I want to be her when I grow up.

What was your first job?

In high school I was a reading and math tutor for elementary and high school students. I used to think I wanted to be a teacher, so a lot of my earlier work experience was in and around classrooms for a while. 

What do you do to relax?

I like to relax by listening to 80’s top hits really loud in my car while I’m driving home after work. Away from the work world, I like to nap, sew, make earrings, play guitar, bake, clean my bathroom, or go for a sunrise bike ride. I also love to find a random body of water, preferably with a park attached to it, and just sit there and let the sounds of water soothe my soul. 

If you could have any one skill or talent that you don’t already have, what would it be?

I would love to be a ballet dancer. I know it takes years of technical training and immense discipline, but it looks so magical and happy and free. 

What’s the proudest moment of your life? 

I didn’t learn how to drive until I was 26, and I was TERRIFIED to learn. The day I successfully transported myself from one place to another using the freeway, I was at least 73 percent sure I was going to die. But I made it in one piece! Now whenever I have to do something I would rather not do, I tell myself, “if you can drive on the freeway, you can totally do this.” 

If we were to create a UM-Dearborn playlist, what song would you want to include?

“The Other Side” by SZA and Justin Timberlake from the 2020 Trolls movie. That song will cheer me up and get me hyped up every single time. I sometimes play it during my morning commute if I need to wake up. 

Where is your favorite place on campus?

Mardigian Library! There’s something so peaceful about a large amount of books gathered in one place. I got my undergraduate degree right here at University of Michigan-Dearborn, and during finals I would sometimes take a brain break by sitting on the floor in between the shelves of the fourth floor since it’s the quiet zone. I would sit near the poetry books and pretend I was on an island. Then I would go right back to writing my papers. 

What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

That my parents are Ugandan and I was raised in Uganda, and that my parents and two of my siblings still live there. I was born in the United States and moved to Uganda with my family when I was a child, and then moved back to the United States on my own to go to college. If you’ve never eaten a mango or a banana grown from Ugandan soil, I regret to inform you that you’ve never actually eaten a real mango or a real banana at all. 

What quote or slogan do you live by?

At least ten times a day I’ll say, “I really love that journey for you!” If someone derives joy from something I don’t particularly enjoy, like snowboarding or sushi or data science or swimming, I can still acknowledge that it’s something they love, and I can be happy that they have something to increase their happiness in life—while also accepting that it’s not something I would prefer. That is their specific journey, and I really do love that for them. Life is easier when you realize that people have to make their own decisions and come to their own conclusions, and ultimately, it has nothing to do with you at all. That’s their own journey.

What’s one thing you wish you had known when you were a teenager?

Oval shaped transition lens glasses look HORRENDOUS on me. Horrendous.