North Central’s Honors Day was filled with various students, faculty, and staff receiving awards to honor their hard work and dedication to the college.
One of the awards given at Honors Day was the Harold R. Wilde Distinguished Service Award, which was given to Lydia Pond, coordinator of recreation programs and assistant athletic facilities and events manager.
“I was shocked,” said Pond. “I had no idea that this was happening. I was caught up in the moment and I missed part of the speech because my heart was racing, but I was really humbled and it was a surprise to me.”
The Harold R. Wilde Distinguished Service Award was originally called the Distinguished Service Award, but was changed later when former North Central President Hal Wilde retired. It was named after Wilde because of his dedication to the student body and the entire NCC campus.
The award is given out every year by the Student Government Association (SGA) to the faculty or staff member that SGA believes to go above and beyond their job and offer help to students and the betterment of NCC overall.
Senior and the SGA acting president Logan LaRocque explained how the selection process for the award goes. At the SGA general meeting, students can present speeches on possible candidates, who are then narrowed down to two or three choices. Then a vote is put into place and the winner of the award is selected.
This year, Pond was selected because of not only the dedication to her job as the manager of the rec sports, intramurals, looks over 60-70 student workers, and organizes the fitness classes. She also is the Sports Management Association advisor and has partaken on one D-term trip and three service projects.
“[She is] extremely caring, dedicated to her work, and she will take her time to talk to the student. She is the ultimate student-first staff member,” said LaRocque.
Not only does Pond dedicate her time to her job, but she also dedicates her time to listening and helping out students any way she can.
As Pond stated, one of the features that allows her to interact with students is that her office is located in the Residence Hall/Recreation Center. She also has an open door policy where any student can stop by and say hello or stay and chat for a while on any topic.
Pond is open to talking with students on any topic and helps them out along the way. She said that sometimes future careers or internships are talked about, to roommate issues, to break-ups, to even family deaths. No matter the topic, Pond will listen.
“People need to have stress relief and I lend them a new pair of ears to listen,” stated Pond. “If the plan is leave at five but someone walks in at 4:55, I will stay.”
A unique feature that Pond added to her office is a black three-person seater couch. She said she wanted to add it because some students stay a while to chat and she wanted to make them feel welcomed and stay as long as they needed to.
“I like those opportunities to meet others…I like to invest in the students,” said Pond.
As stated early, Pond did not know she was receiving the award. So, Pond was tricked by the three staff members into going to the Honors Day awards. LaRocque explained that the staff, Amy Clark Cievers, Whitney Roberts, and Brian Rainville told Pond that Rainville was up for an award and wanted her to come and show support to him.
Pond was more than happy to attend the event and support another staff member. However, halfway through the speech Pond realized that they were not talking about Rainville but in fact herself.
At the awards ceremony, LaRocque was the one who presented the speech on Pond and presented her the award. LaRocque stated in his speech that Pond “is not ordinary person, she is extraordinary.” He continued to explain that Pond “has had numerous things that she could complain about… But her positive attitude and desire to give everyone she encounters the greatest possible effort she can give, overcomes any negativity she may face. You see, it doesn’t matter who you are to her, how well she knows you, or what you need—she will serve to the best of her ability…”
LaRocque has worked in the Res/Rec center since his freshman year and has gotten to know Pond. Pond was really touched that LaRocque, a student she as gotten to know well was the one who gave the award speech that when she went up and hugged him when she received her award.
“It’s been about a week [since the award has been received]and I am still surprised. It’s been a routine of mine for five years and the fact that others have noticed, it’s humbling and exciting,” said Pond. “It’s a big deal to keep pushing through and connecting with students. That’s why we work at a college.”
