Welcome to the Dragon Community: Rachael Harvey

Rachael Harvey (they/them) is MSUM's newest Admissions Representative. Rachel works with the transfer team in the Admissions office. They work with students who are interested in transferring to MSUM, specifically students in the College of Arts and Humanities or the College of Science, Health, and the Environment.

Q: What drew you to MSUM?
A: Before joining the team at MSUM, I was an admissions staff member at a private institution for eight years. I've been in the world of admissions for quite a while.

I've always loved MSUM, the campus and the culture. My husband is an alum, and a lot of our friends are MSUM alums. When the position opened up here, I was at a point in my career where I was ready to make a switch. I'm excited because I'll be working with transfer students at a public institution, whereas I was working with first-year students at a private institution. 

Q: What surprised you about MSUM?
A: The thing that has surprised me the most so far is the variety of hands-on experiences that happen right here on campus, like the Planetarium and the Oceanarium. MSUM has very cool immersive experiences that happen on campus and are fascinating to learn about.

Q: How do you prefer to start your workday?
A: Always coffee! Normally, I'm a bring-from-home person, but once a week, I treat myself to a special coffee. Then I always have a little breakfast at my desk, and then I just dive into whatever I must get done.

Q: If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which would you pick?
A: TikTok is a need. There's a game that I play religiously called Royal Match and then probably Spotify. I listen to a lot of music.

Q: What would we most likely find you doing on the weekend?
A: Well, my husband and I are big nerds and so we play Dungeons and Dragons. That's our thing. I like it because it's collaborative storytelling, and it's fun. It involves imagination games, which I find to be really good escapism.

I also love to go to the local bookstores. I spend a lot of time at More Than Words in Moorhead. I have a cozy chair in a corner, big windows, and I love to just sit there and read a book. 

Q: What's the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?
A: When I started my undergraduate degree, I was a nursing student. I graduated with a communication studies degree. So very different than what I went in for.

Growing up I didn't see a lot of examples of different careers, and I wanted to help people. So, I thought nursing was going to be the thing for me. Then I went to college, and it was very different than what I expected it to be like. In that moment my advisor told me: "There are a lot of ways that you can help people, that don't necessarily involve body fluids."

Until that moment, I had not even considered that. Nowadays, I help students to find the right match for them. I like to think about that a lot when I feel like I'm lost. There are a lot of different ways to help people. 

Welcome to the Dragon Community Rachael!