Laura Dixon

What is your role at UWSWVA and how long have you been a part of the team?

I'm a finance assistant and I've been a part of the team since August 2020. I started out part time and then in December 2020, I became a full time employee.

What is your favorite part of your job?

It's exactly what I prayed for. It's exactly my dream job. It is exactly what I wanted to do. Having the responsibilities that I do, working with numbers and banking is what I love to do.

What does a typical day look like in your position?

We have what we call a daily campaign log, so I take the company car out every day, check the mail, and then I make sure that all the checks get logged on the correct log for that day so that each person is accounted for so that, at the end of the year, their tax deductibles can be counted. If you give a donation or different corporations give donations, I enter those. When someone here makes a purchase, I have to make sure that the right forms are filled out and approved by the purchaser and the manager. Once those get approved and reviewed, I check them off the payables form. I make sure that they all get paid on time. I also do the monthly allocations, review certain job applications, and do a variety of things. No day is exactly the same. It keeps me busy.

What is your personal motivation?

Being a single mom of two girls motivates me to work even harder and be a good example for them. Just how serious it is for me, when you're dealing with numbers and finance, you want to do a good job and make sure you don't make any mistakes. Everyone is very patient and kind so that motivates me to do more. They are all very encouraging and they make it exciting to be here. I like to help people and know that I am needed. I am always ready to learn new things and be flexible and available with a can do attitude.

Favorite event/program at UWSWVA?

It just amazes me how much we give back through programs like Backpacks Unite. I also enjoy that we make sure that our children have opportunities to be successful in life, like getting hands-on training, getting to visit different employers to see how certain things are done, and then going back to school to apply what they learned so they can plan for their future. I really enjoyed Celebrity Bagging at the Food City in Wise. I met new people and was glad to help.

What are some of your favorite hobbies?

I like to travel, I like to take pictures, and then I'll take the pictures to make scrapbooks of them with my children. I like to use old pictures, like from when my mom was a teenager, to make scrapbooks for things like her birthday. I love making meaningful, homemade gifts that relate to people that they can enjoy more. If I have the time, I like to journal, listen to music, and watch movies also.

What is something that is fun and unique about you?

I've been to Jamaica twice. When I was there, I had a severe heat stroke. It was so hot down there, no air conditioning, and I was there on a mission trip.

People say Jamaica is this exotic, beautiful resort. While it is, there is a whole other side that you don’t see. I mean, people have it rough sometimes, there are houses that have no windows and people who have no bathrooms. It helps you appreciate what we have. It gives you a new perspective, and you are able to see what some other people are going through. I've been on a few mission trips, what I’ve noticed is that you always come back with a kind of new perspective and, in a lot of ways, you come back a different person. You appreciate certain things more, you kind of look for more opportunities to help and give back after you return home.

My Papaw had his own farm by the river in Bluff City, Tennessee. Every summer we would have our own pig for BBQ. We would camp by the river to watch it cook all night and have a huge picnic the next day with family and friends with over a hundred people to feast on it. We had our own secret recipe of honey mustard sauce to put on it.

I have family that lives in Charleston, SC. Every summer, we get to visit them and go to the beach. One time I volunteered to help on a food truck and gave out free hot meals to some low-income families there.

I have a cousin who is my cousin twice. His mom and my mom are first cousins and my dad and his dad are brothers. Also, my sister and brother and myself were all born in May and all born on a Sunday but not the same year.

Tell me about your favorite day at work in your current position you’ve ever had.

The day that I became a full-time employee, which was kind of unexpected. I knew that I was home.

Do you have a quote or mantra that you always look to that is meaningful to your work here at UWSWVA?

I always refer to the Bible verse Philippians 4:6, it says to be anxious for nothing but in everything you have, thank you now your thanks to God. So it tells us not to worry about it, just to trust in God.

What was your very first job and how do you use a lesson you learned in that job still today?

Well, my first job was at a daycare center. My parents told me that if I wanted to be a teacher, then I probably should experience it at a daycare first and try to teach the children there. I taught 2-3 year olds an actual curriculum of the colors, shapes, the alphabet, and how to stick to a strict daily schedule. I also worked some at my dad’s trash company. My dad has his own trash company. I had to help him pick up trash at the Bristol Motor Speedway, after all the races, as a teenager and put trash cans together. He instilled a work hard ethic in me at a very young age. I learned to work hard no matter what you are doing or who you are doing it for.