As a student, she took a communication fundamentals course at the Whitman Center. Then, years later, she helped register that same professor of that class for a Lifelong Learning class.
Rebecca Fournier’s communication fundamentals course included a demonstration speech as one of the projects. She did her presentation on wigs: how to take care of them, how to style them and how to wear them. Fournier said she greatly enjoyed being creative with her schoolwork. Fournier drew from her creative interest of cosplay to choose this topic.
Fournier earned two associate degrees from MCCC and has found her way back to the college as the Whitman Center’s full-time coordinator last fall. Drawing from her creative interests has helped guide Fournier in her career and academic life.
Fournier said she took many of her MCCC classes at the Whitman Center. She said she spent a lot of time studying in the dining area, where large windows look out into a forested area.

Ken Mohney, professor of anthropology at MCCC, was teaching classes at the Whitman Center when Fournier was a student. He said teaching at the Whitman Center was “very pleasant, but a different vibe.”
“Administrators were always more accessible,” he said.
Fournier says she likes being involved as an administrator at the Whitman Center. She enjoys being at the forefront of the Whitman Center and being able to hear about students’ backgrounds.
Before becoming the coordinator of the Whitman Center, Fournier said she was an assistant of Tina Pillarelli, the director of Lifelong Learning.
Pillarelli said Fournier was working “as a frontline person” when she was with Lifelong learning. She was “the one students talked to first, instructors talked to first.”
“I think she’ll be great in that position,” Pillarelli said.
Mohney was one of Fournier’s professors at the center. Fournier said she was an introvert, but Mohney said “she was always willing to talk, offer an opinion but not just an opinion. It was clear she was thinking about her responses beforehand.”
As a creative person, one of Fournier’s hobbies growing up was theater.
“Being in theater and the arts from a young age I used to draw a lot,” she said.
Fournier said her interest in the arts was one thing as an employee of the college that helped her come out of her shell.
Different creative projects, like decorating the office for the holidays, were important to Fournier. She said it let her connect with others and see the ideas of her coworkers who all came from different backgrounds.
“I know I’m a creative person,” Fournier said. “I want to express it.”
Pillarelli said Fournier would add flair to her work in Lifelong Learning when she could.
When Fournier was a student of Mohney’s, he said “it was apparent she was going to do something good with her life.”
And Fournier said she wants to go back to school. She is looking to double major in leadership management and marketing at UT. She said she watched her close friend return to school which helped inspire her to do the same.
“I’m giving her kudos for having that courage,” Fournier said.
Going back to school does not mean Fournier has any plans of leaving her position at the college.
“It seems to be a generational thing that younger employees change jobs every couple years,” Fournier said. “I’m done doing that.”
Fournier said MCCC holds a special place in her heart. She wants to bring more activity to the Whitman Center and stick around as the coordinator.
Fournier has seen both sides of MCCC. Her experience with her communications professor showcases that.
“It was a really neat experience to go full circle having that initial relation with the professor, not just from the class as a whole, but also having that reconnection out of the blue,” Fournier said.