Positive Spirit Wins Honor for Mulsow
Brett Weller
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Deborah Mulsow is the type of person you think of when you hear the term “radiant personality.” After 19 years at Emporia State University, Mulsow’s positive spirit has distinguished her as an outstanding individual.
Now she’s also the latest winner of ESU’s “You Make A Difference” award.
Mulsow is an administrative assistant at the word processing center in the Teachers College. She creates documents, does archival scanning and makes duplications of class materials for faculty and staff within the Teachers College.
In addition, Mulsow also enjoys being a Hornet Helper, a volunteer program that helps students move into the resident halls.
Her positive outlook and dedication to her job is drawn from her biggest inspiration, her dad.
“In a personal sense I would have to credit my father for being my inspiration,” she said. “He worked as an electrician for over 30 years here at ESU. He was very dedicated to his job and well respected by others at ESU.”
During the 1960s, Emporia State often featured a display of Santa in his sled being pulled by reindeer at the intersection of 12th Avenue and Commercial Street. It became an annual prank among the fraternities to see who could kidnap Santa from his sleigh — and an annual effort by others to try to protect him. Even though Santa was always brought back safe and sound, various methods were tried to keep him in his sleigh.
“Dad even thought of a way to hook up an alarm to him to prevent his kidnapping,” Mulsow said “However, it didn’t work ... the kidnappers still got away with him. As a 7 or 8-year-old at the time, I thought his effort showed real dedication.”
Mulsow attended Emporia State for two years before transferring to Flint Hills Technical College where she completed the computer information systems program. She was valedictorian of her graduating class.
What she enjoys most about her job at Emporia State is working with people.
“I enjoy working and being around the students, faculty and staff,” she said. “You get to meet people from other countries and work with them, and in the process learn different customs. Everyone contributes to a congenial atmosphere in the Teachers College.”
What advice would she give to others in order to help them make a difference?
“I feel it is important to give positive feedback to your co-workers, let them know how important they are to the office and be supportive,” she said.