If you have a problem with a campus computer and call the
information technologyhotline,
University of California, Merced,employee
Rosemary Bradenwill be your first line of support.
Rosemary’s job is to try to get as much information as she can about the problem, fix it or refer the caller to the appropriate person to handle that issue.
“It’s never a dull moment,” said Braden, who began her career at
UC Mercedone week after the campus opened in September 2005.
But Braden likes challenges.
She has a certificate in word processing and secretarial work; most of her learning has been on the job.
“I’ve always been drawn to computers,” she said.
Before coming to
UC Merced, she worked at Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock for seven years, five of which she spent at the community hospital’s IT Help Desk.
“Just about everyone has given me positive encouragement to push me to learn the stuff I’ve learned so far,” she said.
She admits the most challenging part of her job is not having the educational background that most of her co-workers have, but she doesn’t intend to let that stand in the way of her ambitions.
She hopes to move up someday within the department.
“It’s something I’ve been able to catch on quickly and really enjoy doing,” she said.
She loves being at a new campus and watching it grow from the ground up.
“And I really enjoy helping people,” she said. “That’s what makes my job exciting.”
Her parents, originally from the Azorean island of Terceira, immigrated to Half Moon Bay before she was born. The Azores is a nine-island archipelago off the coast of Portugal. Like many Azorean immigrants, her family later moved to the Central Valley.
Married with two daughters, she works out frequently at the gym and loves to take morning walks. She also coaches softball and basketball for her daughters’ teams and likes to play softball. Braden also volunteers with her church’s catechism program.
As for the future of information technology, she believes the use of computers at the university level will continue to grow.
And she never seems to get tired of them.
In her free time, she uses the Internet to research new interests or surfs the Web, just like the rest of us.
