After 20 years, Michelle Morales-Zimmerman, Assistant Director of Finance and Operations, still recalls her initial reaction to walking onto the Temple Ambler Campus for the first time.
“The main thing was I was just struck by how beautiful it was and what a great environment it would be to work in. I was drawn to Temple Ambler, and Temple more broadly, because I wanted to get my degree,” said Morales-Zimmerman, who was recently inducted into Temple’s 20-Year Club for 20 years of dedicated service to the University. “I was previously working in furniture sales at an office furniture company. I was there on a Saturday with my kids; I was working, and they were coloring at a table. I looked over at them and had an epiphany — I didn’t want to do this for the rest of my life.”
With the goal of getting her degree front of mind, Morales-Zimmerman said the idea of working at a suburban campus really appealed to her.
“I started as an administrative specialist — I was essentially the assistant to the dean’s assistant — and worked my way up from there. What’s kept me here for 20 years is the people, everyone I work with and everything we work on together as a team,” she said. “The campus is gorgeous, I love the Ambler Arboretum and because we are a smaller campus, my job is quite varied.”
Just working on one thing day in and day out, Morales-Zimmerman said, “would never work for me.”
“Today I could be working on budgets or human resources projects. Tomorrow it could be space planning or emergency management,” she said. “That’s what I love about coming in every day — there is always a new challenge.”
While providing invaluable support to the Ambler Campus community, Morales-Zimmerman also achieved her goal of getting her Temple degree in Adult and Organizational Development.
“When I first started at Temple, my children were all very little, but they’ve grown up while I’ve been here. At first I wasn’t able to jump right in and start classes but eventually, with a great deal of support from my supervisor at the time, Saul Katzman, my advisor Janine Warnas and Sylvia Studenmund, who was Assistant to the Dean and the first person to really encourage me to get started, I was able to complete that goal.”
Being able to start taking a few classes before fully committing to a specific degree, Morales-Zimmerman said, “gave me the insight I needed on what it would take to finish my degree and how I could balance that while working full-time and taking care of my children.”
“I still get very emotional thinking about the day I graduated in 2022. I was hesitant to even go to graduation at first — I thought I was too old — but my kids told me I absolutely had to and there they were in the audience cheering for me and holding up a sign,” she said. “That was probably one of the proudest moments of my life. The whole campus was so supportive — there is just a huge amount of empathy among the people here at Ambler.”
Reflecting on reaching and being recognized for this 20-year milestone, Morales-Zimmerman said, “in my time here I’ve always felt like I’ve found my place.”
“I’ve had a lot of jobs prior to coming to Temple. I’ve always said — and I’ve instilled this in my children and told this to my friends — never stay somewhere that you don’t love,” she said. “I’ve experienced so much growth in my time here. Temple Ambler has been a huge part of my life and my children’s lives; it’s like their second home. It’s such a special place for us.”
Being on campus and walking through the Ambler Arboretum, Morales-Zimmerman said, you can’t help but expand your knowledge, even when it’s unexpected.
“The Arboretum is one of my favorite places on Earth, and I’ve been to a lot of beautiful places. When I first walked onto campus, I knew trees had leaves and branches, and that was about it,” she laughed. “I’ve learned so much in my time here and a whole new appreciation for the world around me and the community that I’m part of — we’re a family that is part of this amazing larger whole that is Temple.”