SFS is growing and we have a few new financial aid counselors in the office! Please meet Anthony Crowe – he started just a few months ago:
Q: What is your name, title, and your caseload alpha-split?
A: My name is Anthony Crowe, I am Financial Aid Counselor for undergraduate students with last names Rel – Sik.
Q: Where were you employed or what did you do before being hired at Northeastern?
A: I previously worked as an instructor with B.E.L.L. and Assistant Director of Project D.E.E.P., both nonprofit programs working to extend educational opportunities to inner city youth. I have also previously worked as a consultant for Vanguard Education Consulting and Yale University.
Q: Why did you choose Northeastern as a place that you wanted to work and how do you feel about your position since you have been working here?
A: I love working at Northeastern. Recently a member of senior leadership said to a group of us that the greatest capital we have at Northeastern is human capital – our people and our ideas. I believe that’s true and it’s my favorite part of working here. I am on a team with tremendously talented people, working with a diverse population of students. As far as my position here, I think we do a lot of things students don’t realize and don’t see, and similarly some students are shocked to find things we don’t handle. I am personally satisfied with my work because I’m able to be a part of some small change in a few students’ lives and that might just be the student who starts the next Microsoft or cures cancer, and I’m pleased just to be involved at all.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself or what you may do outside your job here at NU. Do you have a favorite hobby or favorite past time?
A: I have a baby at home and another one on the way so I spend a lot of my time now making strange sounds and reading books about Thomas the tank engine. But I am otherwise pretty interested in music – I toured and recorded with a few bands in my undergraduate days – and I enjoy spending time outdoors, reading, rock climbing, travelling and the occasional video game. As some of my coworkers know, I’m also an avid cook and I make my own organic jams and jellies.
Q: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
A: I would like to work in public service as an elected official or a senior advisor. I have a background in government and a personal interest in economics so I think I could do well with those careers.
Q: What profession would you not like to do?
A: The only thing I can think of that I would not like to do would probably be being on reality television. I value my privacy and I don’t really enjoy that kind of programming so… I don’t think I would want to be involved in that.
Q: What are your favorite and least favorite words?
A: I have had a fascination with language for many years so there are several words that I really love. I actually really enjoy words in other languages that don’t have direct equivalents in English. Here are some of my favorites: honne (本音) and tatemae (建前) are Japanese words for complimentary concepts – the former being the person’s true character, feelings and desires, while the latter is the what is expected by society and what most other people see you as. Another great one is sgrìob, a Scottish Gaelic word for the itch above your upper lip when you take a sip of whisky.
There aren’t many words I strongly dislike but I’ve never been a fan of business jargon like “metrics” even though we sometimes use these words at Northeastern. I think it’s a bit pompous to use “vis-à-vis” in regular conversation. I’m kind of a foodie, so I tend to dislike when people describe something as “tasty” because that doesn’t really tell me anything at all. It’s saying something that really says nothing.
Q: If you could meet just one person that you have always wanted to, living or dead, who would that person be?
A: There are a number of people I would love to meet, but I suppose if I had to choose one it might be Ralph Waldo Emerson. I think we’re simpatico, and I’d be interested in his thoughts on reconciling culture and civilization with the beauty and simplicity of nature. In 1844, Emerson wrote, “I wish to have rural strength and religion for my children… and I wish city facility and polish. I find with chagrin that I cannot have both.” That has always resonated with me.
