“You’re late today,” Suzanne Combe said to one student who approached the Tortilla station where she works on the second floor of the Campus Center. As Suzanne selected from the black in-set containers of varied and colorful foods, she exchanged pleasantries, but also asked questions specific to the student.
“What are you doing this weekend?” Suzanne asked another student, Seth Warren ’05.
Suzanne was referring to a possible track meet Warren could be attending as she knows that he runs for the track team.
“Suzanne knows everyone’s name, and she always knows what I like to eat,” Warren said.
Suzanne has been a Wesleyan employee for ten years. She has worked in all the Campus dining facilities but now she works exclusively at the Campus Center Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m.
Before working at Wesleyan, Suzanne worked in an office as a bookkeeper.
“[Bookkeeping] was very boring. I love working with the kids here.”
Suzanne has two sons, one a freshman and the other a sophomore in high school.
“My kids, they’re either going to make me an alcoholic or give me gray hair before they graduate,” Suzanne said, laughing. “But they’re good kids. I’m married, I have a good husband and a dog who is my baby. She’s the only other girl in the house. It’s just she and I against all the men.”
Suzanne’s dog is a one year-old German shepherd named Bella.
Among students, Suzanne is known for her friendliness.
“She’s the nicest woman in the world,” said Bonnie Oliva ’04. “She’s so easy to talk to and she always remembers your name.”
Suzanne is also a talented baker and loves to share her culinary creations with others.
“Most people know I love to bake. I’m always bringing in goodies and treats.”
Born and raised in Middletown, Wesleyan was never a foreign word for Suzanne, yet she was more or a less a stranger to the campus in her youth.
“I never went sledding on Foss Hill or anything because when I was growing up my father was a cop, and he would say, ‘you stay away from those Wesleyan students.’ So that was off-limits for me.”
Christmas is Suzanne’s favorite holiday. At that time of year, she wears playful earrings and festive socks.
“I also do a cookie swap every year and my house is decorated to the max,” Suzanne said.
Suzanne tells her husband routinely how much she enjoys her job.
“I tell him how I laugh at work and he says, ‘Well, I’m glad you like your job so much.’”
Some of Suzanne’s co-workers have given her the alias Martha Stewart.
“They say it’s because I bake and because I’m crafty,” Suzanne said.
When the school year ends, Suzanne knows that she will miss students who will have graduated.
“It’s sad when they leave,” Suzanne said, “but I keep in touch with twenty to thirty students through writing – Christmas cards and e-mail. I love keeping in touch with students.”
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