Over the course of my last semester here at Denison, I’m making a conscious effort to spend as much time as I can with the people who are most important to me. With the few precious weeks I have left, I want to make it count with friends who have left an indelible imprint on my time here. Recently, I’ve found myself being especially sure to hang out with one person in particular. With all due respect to my fraternity brothers and other friends, this person is one of the most important people in my life – one of the most important women in my life. I’m not talking about a significant other… I’m talking about my dear friend Betty, who works over in Huffman Dining Hall. The friendship and guidance she’s provided me over the past few years has been absolutely priceless and I can’t imagine what my experience on the Hill would have been like without her presence.

It all started my sophomore year, when I lived on East Quad for the first time. Back then, Betty was the lady who swiped students into the dining hall. Thus, she learned my name from swiping my card every day. This may seem mundane, but her use of my card allowed us to immediately gain a connection. She called me various forms of the name “Timothy”, my first name, instead of calling me “Ryan”, the middle name which I usually go by. I could count the number of people who call me by my first name on one hand, and the people who use that name tend to be people who know me well. Whether she knew it or not, by calling me my first name, Betty pushed herself right into my inner circle.

Soon, Betty took on a more active role in the dining hall and began wiping down tables and restocking certain food items. This meant she was out amongst all the students and I had the privilege of eating breakfast in her company. A friendly rapport developed between us, and often she’d sit down next to me, point at my copy of the newspaper, and say “What’s going on out there, Timmer?!” With each conversation, we delved deeper into our friendship, passionately discussing world events and learning little bits and pieces of each other’s lives along the way. Betty became a fixture of my mornings. I found myself sharing all sorts of stories with her and I discovered that I could be immensely vulnerable and honest with her. Betty’s straight-shooting personality cut right to the heart of issues and made me feel comfortable in the simplicity of her approach to life. As I dealt with a great deal of heartbreak last spring, Betty sat down to breakfast with me every morning to provide heartfelt, honest advice. In many ways, I was more honest with her about my situation and my feelings than I was with anyone else. I cannot thank her enough for the support she provided me.

Now that I’m a senior, I cook for myself most of the time and don’t eat in the dining halls very often. I went to see Betty once last semester, but then never forced myself to go over to East Quad to say hello to her again. As I reflected upon things I wanted to do during my final semester, I realized that if I wanted to keep investing in the most important relationships I have on campus, I needed to go over to see Betty more often. I now make a concerted effort to stop by Huffman once a week to catch up with Betty. People like Betty, with unassuming jobs in the food service world, can often go unnoticed and exist in the background. I am thankful beyond words for her role in my life, and I urge everyone to find the Betty in their life – and if you go to Denison, meet Betty yourself!