We’ve heard the saying, “All roads lead home.”
For Azanda (Howard) Seymour ’92, that road home has led back to Westfield State University.
This alumna earned a bachelor of arts in communication and was an extremely active undergraduate. Summers found Seymour working as a dedicated urban education program peer counselor. She helped students adjust as they crossed the bridge from an urban high school to the suburban Westfield State.
“I really enjoyed assisting incoming students with their transition from high school,” Seymour says. “I spent a lot of my undergraduate time hanging out in the Urban Education office, where I made friendships that have lasted a lifetime.”
That’s for sure. Seymour’s husband, Larry ’92, is also an Urban Education alumnus; he graduated with a degree in geography and regional planning.
Following graduation, Seymour went on to earn a master’s of education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Professionally, she remained in academic environments in advising positions at UMass, Mount Holyoke College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Hartford in its Educational Leadership Program.
And, she is back at Westfield State.
In 2008, the road led Seymour to the Academic Advising Center and home to Westfield State University. “It was great to return to my alma mater. I have had the opportunity to watch as our programs have expanded and our campus has become more diverse,” she says.
Once again, Seymour is hanging out in the Urban Education office.
This time around, she is the assistant director of the Urban Education Program.
Reflecting on her Westfield State experiences as an undergraduate, she says, “I do not know if I could have made it without the support of Carlton Pickron (now vice president of Student Affairs), Joan Fuller (director of Urban Education) and many, many others who supported and encouraged me to reach high and to give back,” says Seymour.
