It's hard for Rosie Ashley to even remember when the University of Houston was not a big part of her life.
Just two years after graduating high school in Ingleside, a small town on the outskirts of Corpus Christi, she first stepped foot on the UH campus. That was in 2004. She signed up to take a couple of classes and landed two part-time student worker positions. One was as a customer service representative in Computing and Telecommunication Services, the other was in Printing and Postal Services.
Fast forward 10 years and she's still here. But now she's the manager of Auxiliary Services, a job she's held for the past year after serving as supervisor for several years. She also has a bachelor's degree in human resource development under her belt.
Her job keeps her busy. She manages the auxiliary operations and the Cougar Card counter while based out offices in the Welcome Center. She also assists Deborah Davis, the assistant director for Auxiliary Services, with the dining and bookstore contracts to make sure everything spelled out in those contracts is being performed properly.
"I love what I do. We have a great team," she said.
Growing up in a Hispanic family in south Texas, she learned to speak both English and Spanish. Those bilingual skills come in handy from time to time when a student comes into the Cougar Card office and has limited English-speaking ability.
She's not the first person in her family to graduate from UH or work here. Her older sister, Maria Honey, is the assistant director of marketing and communications for Auxiliary Services and Student Housing and Residential Life who also is an alumna of UH.
While a good chunk of her time during the week is spent at UH, she does find time to relax and unwind at home with her husband of a year, Randal, and the home they share with their dog, a Dachsund named Wyrm. She and her husband spend a lot of time working on making their house a home.
"We are still getting everything together. It's always going to be a work in progress," she said.