Beyond the Margins

Not even time apart tarnishes the shine of a beautiful TPS friendship.

—By Callie Atanasoff, Director of Admission

We started in a cozy space with big windows and a secret passageway. We ended in an old storage closet-turnedworkspace, outfitted with a weather radio, cinder blocks, and beige corded telephones.

It wasn’t exactly how I pictured my first job, and I would guess Jess (White) Dessart ’99 didn’t expect to return to Prairie only to be partnered with some southerner in a windowless bunker. When I packed my things and moved from Georgia to Wisconsin, I was eager and green. I’d never even heard of Prairie before taking a position in the Development Office; all I wanted was to begin.

Jess, on the other hand, was a product of the mission: an alumna who had challenged herself academically, was an incredible three-sport athlete, a leader. Taking a role here meant returning to a place she called home for fifteen years and reshaping her identity — no longer Coach Owsley’s point guard, but rather the point person for the Prairie Fund.

There we were, a couple of 20-somethings navigating work, life, relationships. Our partnership quickly shifted from coworkers to friends to sisters, but that’s to be expected when you end up with a Jess in your life. She was quietly ambitious, driven to do more than she did yesterday, and I appreciated the fire she lit for me. I started running because I wanted to say “yes” to an afternoon jog around the Point; it was the only athletic thing I could ever do next to her. She tried teaching me how to drive stick shift, a lesson that ended in my frustration and her laughter. Many things we did brought on big belly laughs, and nothing was better than stumbling upon those moments in the office. At one point, we thought it would help our productivity to place our desks directly in front of each other, like reporters at a busy newspaper. The new arrangement was temporary; as it turns out, making phone calls while your colleague faces you provokes as many giggles as what ensues when asked to be quiet in church.

We rarely worked alone, a reflection of our environment. At TPS, collaboration wins. It is the result of a lean faculty — requiring you to keep track of your hats and rely on the strengths of others — combined with the tenacity to improve. Iron sharpening iron. Because of this, because we are driven and intentional and like-minded, relationships develop differently at Prairie. You come to know your co-workers in a way that is uncommon. Anyone can throw a Halloween party, but can your team members accurately identify which Muppet the others will impersonate? Are you able to pinpoint the exact moment a corny joke will be shared, thus stealing the thunder but encouraging playful jabs? We don’t stand in the margins of each other’s lives. We wiggle into the middle, we get messy, and we pay attention.

It has been ten years since Jess and I shared an office. In that time, we have pursued different careers, established families, moved, and moved again. We keep up through social media, and reach out from time to time. The ebb and flow of friendship. But there is something about the warmth and familiarity we share that keeps us connected. We spent forty-five minutes talking over Zoom recently and it was like taking in a deep breath, refreshing and reflective at the same time.

Maybe this is what everyone experiences in their job: teammates who are also roommates, who ride the highs and lows of dating alongside you, who stand up next to you in your wedding, who show you what it means to be brave in spite of all the reasons not to be.

Or maybe it’s not. Maybe what we have at Prairie is a unique opportunity to cultivate relationships where we start as colleagues, and we end as family.

The author, right, with former Development team members (from left) Lisa Koleske, Pat Wagner ’87, and Jess (White) Dessart ’99.

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