Michelle Gardner
Senior Director of Foundation Relations and Campaign Gift Strategies, Development Office, Division of Advancement
When I entered Carleton University on Ottawa, Canada in the fall of 1983, I was the first in my immediate family to attend university. Neither of my parents had graduated from high school and my only sibling still had three years of high school ahead of him. Both of my parents achieved small town success but they were confident that with a university degree, I would do better and experience more (even if they were not sure what that might mean). I paid for school with a combination of financial aid and loans (we really did not have the money for school) – I was a good but not great student so no scholarships. When I graduated with my BA in English, I tried several paths and finally found my fit as a professional fundraiser -- a career that my family was unaware was even a job. I recently graduated with my MS in Systems Science from Binghamton – a long, long path from that English degree to engineering school! I’m an active volunteer who enjoys travel (16 countries and counting!), cooking, gardening and a good adventure.
