Some people are married to the job. Some people are married on the job.
At Allegheny College, relationships and work coexist as married faculty and staff navigate both their personal and professional lives within the community.
The list of married employees includes Professor of Political Science Sharon Wesoky and Director of the Center for Career and Professional Development Jim Fitch.
“We walk to work every day, so Allegheny is with us a lot of the time,” Fitch said. “I think that as the workplace goes, the college would like to be more than just a job, but more of a lifestyle. We have to work to not let Allegheny dominate our conversations.”
Wesoky added that she thinks the struggle of balancing work and life is partially about the college but also the culture of the country.
“There was just an article in ‘The Atlantic’ that I have open on my phone about ‘workism,’” Wesoky said. “Our whole lives are our work and our identities are our work. So with Allegheny, it is a place where many of us like what we do because it’s meaningful, and so the boundaries can get a little blurred because of that.”
Because of working at the same institution, professional differences can arise and couples have had to find ways to navigate through them.
“Most of the time, we are so closely aligned,” Fitch said. “If I get angry, it’s generally not long before I can say to (Wesoky) that I was wrong and overreacted and I think that our practice of meditation helps us in that respect. I also think that if we can listen to each other, taking in that other person’s perspective just expands and gives me an understanding of a different perspective which is helpful.”
Wesoky shared advice for couples who may be considering working at the same institution for how they can navigate having their space.
“It’s important, I think, to have both your own identity and your own sort of things that you are interested in,” Wesoky said. “Especially if you work at the same place, it is really important to have some things you enjoy doing on your own so that you are not always on top of each other.”
Technical Director LeeAnn Yeckley and Dean for Student Life Trae Yeckley have little overlap in their professional settings. However, they still face the challenges of navigating family life while working at the same institution.
“We’ve had parts of our jobs that require evenings, so balancing out when one or both of us has to be here at work when you would traditionally be taking care of youngsters at home,” Trae Yeckley said. “We just really try to communicate, knowing the demands of each other’s jobs, knowing it’s a lot easier for me to do my meetings from home because I don’t teach.”
Through working at the same institution, LeeAnn and Trae Yeckley have found that they can check in with each other more frequently throughout the day while also creating traditions with their children involving the college.
“My kids know how to bus their own tables at Brooks because they have grown up eating at Brooks,” Trae Yeckley said. “Almost every Friday, we’ve come to Kinz to get pizza and my kids are like ‘Yay Kinz!’”
Beyond creating family routines, Trae Yeckley is glad their children get to spend a significant amount of time on campus.
“I think a lot about my kids having the privilege of growing up on a college campus, versus, you know, first-gen students who have maybe never stepped foot on a college campus,” Trae Yeckley said.
Because the Yeckleys share a last name, students and staff at the college often ask the couple about how their spouse is doing.
“Sometimes people will check in on you (Trae) through me,” LeeAnn Yeckley said. “Like ‘How’s Trae doing?’ And I’ll say ‘We’ll be glad when this week’s done,’ and they’ll go ‘How are you doing?’ Because they will recognize the stressors of being a spouse of somebody who’s in a stressful phase of their job.”
Some of Trae Yeckley’s favorite memories are of this year’s Blue and Gold Weekend, which coincided with his birthday, allowing them to bring their family to the event as a celebration.
“The atmosphere was positive and people said, ‘I am sorry you had to work on your birthday,’” Trae Yeckley said. “I felt like I didn’t because my family was with me and they are a part of this community as well, and I got to experience it with the greater Allegheny Community.”
LeeAnn Yeckley added that she has been able to mark their time at the college through their children’s growth.
“Our youngest was 15 months when Trae started and now he is going to be almost eight,” LeeAnn Yeckley said. “I would say what’s most memorable has been us being a family while here.”