During the final days of Rebecca Macon’s nearly eight years as University Registrar, before she packed up the personal mementos decorating her office-like the brightly colored fish that she uses to encourage and motivate her staff-she received a fitting send-off: Watching her last Commencement.
As registrar, Macon is responsible for keeping and maintaining student records as well as helping plan Commencement.
“Sometimes you become so focused on your daily work on campus that you forget why you’re here,” Macon said. “Commencement is a reminder of why we do what we do every single day, which is to make things better for students and to work with them so that they reach that end goal of graduating and move out into the next phase of their lives.”
For Macon, who retires June 30, the next phase of life means more time for her family and, finally, settling down. Although she grew up in Akron, Ohio, as the middle of three sisters, Macon has seemingly made a career out of weaving her way across America.
She attended Grace College in Indiana, where she worked in the registrar’s office. Later she relocated to Oregon, California, Hawaii, Colorado, Wyoming and Georgia.
“People tell me I have an accent, but because I’ve lived so many places I never know which accent they pick up on,” she said with a laugh. “When I lived in Hawaii, I picked up what they call Pidgin English, although I can’t do it now. I value the fact that I’ve lived in so many places. Every place I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and they’ve always had different things to offer. I wouldn’t go back and live in Los Angeles, but everywhere
I lived was perfect for those stages of my life.”
Although she’s enjoyed her time in Athens, where she said the people are nice and the campus is beautiful, her next move will be back to Indiana. The South, however, will always hold a special place in her heart. She also hopes that retirement brings more time for quilting.
“When I lived in Hawaii, I learned Hawaiian quilting. And it’s very different than what we think of here, which is more of a patchwork quilt,” she said. “I got out of quilting when I was in Los Angeles, but in Wyoming, I started taking quilting classes in a tiny shop in Laramie, and I fell in love with it again. So when I moved here, I got involved with it here in town. So I’m anxious to have more time to work on quilts.”
