Pamela Gryzbowski: I looked at some of your stories and I was like wow, I am
going to be really boring.
Ren Harman: [Laughs] No. It's okay. The first thing is this paperwork. This is
basically just saying that we can take your interview and use it for research
purposes, so if you would just put your name here, kind of fill out your contact
information there. And you probably saw on the website kind of how our process
it kind of takes from start to finish.
Gryzbowski: I didn't.
Harman: It's about four to five
00:01:00months. This interview will be in SpecialCollections, and then you can keep one of those.
Gryzbowski: Today is the 11th, Veteran's Day.
Harman: If you could include your email too.
Gryzbowski: So you are both PhD candidates?
Harman: I am.
Female: No. I'm a senior.
Gryzbowski: Okay.
Harman: So you keep this. This is yours and David Cline is on the project. These
are old. This just has his name on it. He's a professor in the History
Department. We have questions and stuff but it's really laid-back, just a
conversation more than anything. This is the first time that we're actually
using these new devices, so hopefully it works and we get a good sound quality.
The only thing is like if you sit kind of close to it…
Gryzbowski: Feedback.
Harman: Yeah, there you go, so I actually
00:02:00can hear you good. We used to havethese little tiny machines, but now we have this fancy equipment that we use.
Gryzbowski: Oh, is this is the fancy equipment?
Harman: This is the fancy equipment. We did have like just little hand-held records.
Gryzbowski: So you would really have to lean down and talk into it?
Harman: Yeah, you've got to get really close and then the sound quality is just
going to be so much better. You can adjust it. So this project is really
interesting. We have interviewed probably about 115 alumni or so. This project
started between a conversation between Laura Sands and a group of other folks.
During the Sands' first year they got so interested in the story and the story
of Virginia Tech and they realized that there wasn't really a oral history of
Virginia Tech and people that attended, and so this is kind of what we're doing
to capture. And so for the past couple of years we've been interviewing a
handful of
00:03:00 folks.Gryzbowski: 2013 is when you started?
Harman: We started the summer of 2014, and so we started then and just doing
some interviewing, and like classes have kind of weaved in and out of this work
on this project. So last year we got some nice funding to have undergraduate
interns. Ashley is an intern and project manager is just my title.
Gryzbowski: But this isn't any part of your thesis?
Harman: No. So my methodology for my dissertation is oral history actually.
Gryzbowski: It tie into it somehow.
Harman: Yeah, that's how it ties in, yeah. And so David, Dr. Cline, he's an oral
historian so that's what his research is in. And I took a class with him and
that's how this project started, and it just continues to grow. We have some
nice photos on the website. President Sands came by the work center the other
Wednesday and took some pictures with us, so they are really supportive of the
project. We really just want to hear about Virginia Tech and your time here.
Gryzbowski: Yeah. Luckily it was only four years, but yeah. I mean not
00:04:00luckily. [Laughs]Harman: All right. So good afternoon. This is Ren Harman, the project manager
for VT Stories. Today is November 11, 2016 at about 2:50 PM, and we are in the
Smithfield room at the Inn at Virginia Tech. So this is the only time that I'm
going to prompt you, is if you could state in a full sentence my name is, and
tell us when you were born and where you were born.
Gryzbowski: My name is Pam Gryzbowski. I was born on September 19, 1969 in Fort
Belvoir, Virginia.
Harman: What years did you attend Virginia Tech?
Gryzbowski: From 1987 until 1991, so the start of Beamer, Beamer Ball.
Harman: What was your major?
Gryzbowski: Business management.
Harman: We're going to get to all the good Virginia Tech stuff in just a second,
00:05:00but can you tell us a little bit about growing up and what it was like growingup as a child?
Gryzbowski: I am the youngest of seven children, so it's a big family and living
outside of Washington, DC, Springfield is where I grew up. It was not common to
be in such a large family. My dad was ex-military. He had retired when I was
born in the CIA, so a pretty strict household I would say.
Harman: So the youngest of 7?
Gryzbowski: Yes.
Harman: Wow. I'm the youngest of five, so I know how it goes. What are some
family stories? What did you get to do in your free time?
Gryzbowski: A lot of family stories, just because the older brothers and
sisters, my oldest sister was about 20 years older than I am, so it was more
like another family, and they traveled all over the world because my dad was in
the military, and then I only lived in Springfield,
00:06:00Virginia, so there was quitea difference between me and the older ones. I'm the fourth one to go to Virginia
Tech, so it was kind of a tradition, a legacy to go. And there are a lot of
stories, but I don't know what specifically you want to hear.
Harman: You're the fourth family member to attend Virginia Tech?
Gryzbowski: Yeah.
Harman: This is probably a rhetorical question, but when did you kind of start
thinking about college and specifically Virginia Tech?
Gryzbowski: Yeah, it had always been kind of assumed that we all would go to
college, and actually most of my siblings have masters and doctorates, but I do
not. [Laughs] But Virginia Tech was always…JMU was actually my first choice to
go to and I was rejected by JMU, but I am glad that I came here, because it's
where I met my husband, my best friends, and so I do have strong ties
00:07:00still tothis area for that reason.
Harman: What was your first memory of Virginia Tech?
Gryzbowski: Probably when one of my brothers graduated and the long walk and the
hills, and I just remember.
Harman: Do you remember what year that was?
Gryzbowski: '76 I want to say, so that's probably my first memory, but not
really any concrete memories, just I remember it was a really long day. [Chuckles]
Harman: So you studied business management.
Gryzbowski: Yes.
Harman: How did you end up in that major?
Gryzbowski: Good question. Well, it's probably not something I would have chosen
except for thinking that was the most practical of majors and I could make
something of this. Now I have then since taken a lot of science classes and I
actually find myself, I love science. I wish I had done more in science.
00:08:00 But,yeah, I thought it was a practical major and it's done me okay.
Harman: Right. Very cool. When you were here to Pamplin, Pamplin was here, right?
Gryzbowski: Yeah, Pamplin was pretty new. It hadn't been completed yet, but did
have the… Like I don't think there was the McDonald's or whatever food they
had. I don't think that was open, but I do remember lining up to sign up for
classes when you had to sign up for classes in person, and the lines went around
and all…
Harman: Oh my gosh.
Gryzbowski: Yeah. It seems kind of crazy, because there really wasn't internet
really at that point. I remember we were the first class that was required to
have a PC and it was a 365K Tandy RAM. Yeah. Still with the dos and you have
wait 15 minutes for it to boot-up, so that's kind of funny to think about.
That's how long ago it was.
Harman: Where did you live on campus?
Gryzbowski:
00:09:00Slusher Wing, when it was all girls.Harman: Did you stay on campus all four years?
Gryzbowski: No. Two years I stayed in Slusher Wing and then ended up moving off
campus to Green Street behind the stadium. I don't even know if it's still there.
Harman: Yeah.
Gryzbowski: Okay. So I roomed there with my suitemates actually.
Harman: Have you guys stayed in touch?
Gryzbowski: Oh yeah. We're all here for the 25th.
Harman: Very cool.
Gryzbowski: Yeah.
Harman: You're going to the game tomorrow I'm sure.
Gryzbowski: Yeah, absolutely. We're going to win.
Harman: I hope so. I saw the spread today and it got me a little nervous.
Gryzbowski: Oh really? I haven't seen it.
Harman: 14. We're favored by 14.
Gryzbowski: That's good. They can do it.
Harman: Yeah. So your time in Pamplin, I'm sure there was lots of notable
professors or advisors that you had. Can you speak to any of those?
Gryzbowski: As far as business goes, gosh, I don't recall names. I have faces
that I recall that were very inspiring I think, and it might be one of my
business instructors
00:10:00who kind of made me want to go through human resourceroute, which I didn't for one reason or another. But I also had a psychology
professor who has now gone on, Dr. Green, to write books. And I do have a child
that has autism spectrum, so I got one of his books and I was like isn't that
funny, this is my same professor who I went to abnormal psych, or I can't
remember which psychology class. Because I really did like psychology. I just
thought it wasn't so practical.
Harman: Tell me about meeting your husband up here.
Gryzbowski: So I met my husband at a Sig Ep party and I heard his last name and
I said what? And we dated on and off and then you know, we stayed friends and
then we connected years later.
Harman: Oh wow.
Gryzbowski: Yeah.
Harman: Very cool. How long have you guys been married?
Gryzbowski: 20 years last May.
Harman: And you met him here?
Gryzbowski: And I met him here at a Sig Ep party.
Harman: Wow. Do you guys share
00:11:00stories about Virginia Tech a lot with each other?Gryzbowski: We do, and now we have a senior in high school who is going through
the whole process of enrolling and checking out…
Harman: Oh. So, is mom and dad pushing them to Virginia Tech?
Gryzbowski: We encouraged it. We had season tickets when the boys were younger.
I have three boys, and so when they were younger we were able to come up and
spend time going to football games and reminiscing, but as they got into sports
we found ourselves with less and less time to travel and come, so we really
haven't come down here as much as we would like to, but not pushing. I don't
know if it's right for him, and so trying to listen to what he wants to do, and
you never know.
Harman: You never know. What are some of your favorite memories or experiences
from your time here?
Gryzbowski: Hmm, I probably was a little bit too socially active during my time
here. I do wish I had maybe focused more on what I wanted to
00:12:00do instead of just,as I said, I wasn't like 100% into business. I got by, but I do wish that I had
been a little bit more a serious student, but I did make some great friends and
really got to learn about myself, and be away from my strict family.
Harman: Yeah.
Gryzbowski: So it was a growing up time.
Harman: We've done a lot of these interviews and there seems to be this gap
between students from the 80s and the 90s, especially mid-80s to early 90s and
you kind of fit perfectly in that timeframe. So what was kind of Virginia Tech
like at that time, just the campus as a whole, students and so on?
Gryzbowski: Well, it was a time when, I mean nowadays I know fraternities you
don't serve alcohol, so I think it was during a time when there was a lot of
alcohol usage, and I remember seeing kids that couldn't handle it, that
00:13:00overindulged. And I remember thinking oh, I wonder what their parents werethinking of sending them here. I remember thinking I need to represent myself
well. And I know a lot has changed on college... I work at a community college,
so I don't have campus… I've worked at private colleges as well, so I kind of
am still connected to that sense of knowing how much has changed, and how
sensitive that issue is and hazing. Now there's no longer fraternity houses
around, and I guess it was kind of expected. It was expected that you would be a
little crazy.
Harman: So, student-body-wise did it feel like a large university or did it
still feel kind of small and intimate?
Gryzbowski: Oh it felt…especially what was that hall up the hill, across the
drillfield, up the hill into the large auditorium
00:14:00for economics?Harman: McBryde maybe?
Gryzbowski: McBryde, there you go. See how long it's been? I haven't been
down… So I just remember being one of many, which I kind of liked being able
to hide in the group.
Harman: Right. Did you come from a large high school?
Gryzbowski: It was fairly large, yeah. I'm trying to remember what my graduating
class was. I remember it being the largest from talking to other people. I had a
roommate that was from Wytheville, Wytheville, Virginia, and I thought it was
'Wiffle' for the longest time. I remember her telling me how small her class was
and I thought oh gosh.
Harman: Yeah, mine was small from southwest Virginia. It was like 145 or
something, so it was pretty tiny.
Gryzbowski: Yeah, so we're talking maybe five times as much.
Harman: Yeah, exactly. I can remember coming here and being a little overwhelmed
by class size, because the classes in McBryde, I remember having general
chemistry in there with 2-300 people just packed.
Gryzbowski: Ooh,
00:15:00general chemistry.Harman: I was a biology major.
Gryzbowski: That would have been rough. See, I kind of wish I had done that,
because I started taking science classes for dental hygiene. That was my plan,
so I did my anatomy, physiology, micro. I loved it.
Harman: Right.
Gryzbowski: No, I'm not taking that track any longer.
Harman: We talked a little bit, but what were some other stories about when you
were here at Tech with your friends? What did you guys get into?
Gryzbowski: Well, I did belong to a business fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon and I
met some great people that way too, and some of us still keep in touch. So, I
think that was my effort to stay focused on my major and also have fun. I wasn't
really the sorority type feeling person, although I do have several friends that
were in sororities, and that was during the time when there was a yellow ribbon
project and that was part of the fraternity that put together
00:16:00with the cadetpeople being sent overseas to serve. I remember with the big cadet presence that
we have and integration I feel like that was pretty neat.
Harman: Did you have friends that had signed up or volunteered? I guess that was
the goal.
Gryzbowski: I think that was their goal to graduate and then be sent, yeah, but
I didn't really know any people that were sent before they graduated. They were
in the Corps of Cadets.
Harman: Before we kind of started you talked about the Beamer years, so what was
football like at that time?
Gryzbowski: Well you got a ticket, you know. It was part of your athletic
[00:17:39 phase], so that's changed a lot, and it wasn't packed in the very beginning.
Harman: His first year was?
Gryzbowski: I think it was '87 I think is when he started, because you know, it
took a couple of years to get it all up and rolling.
00:17:00So by my senior year Ithink it was becoming more popular to go to the games, but before that it was
pretty dead, and it was pretty to go. I just remember there being lots of room
and it was really cold. You're like 'Umm I don't think I'm going to go tonight.'
So it's definitely changed from that perspective. And then all the buildings.
Gosh, driving in here I didn't recognize coming down into this facility. I have
never seen it.
Harman: When was the last time you had been down?
Gryzbowski: Oh, good question. You know what, I came last year a group of us
came in September, because I remember this is how we found out about the alumni
and how they get together. There was a couple of people we knew it was their
25th last year.
Harman: Right.
Gryzbowski: Some of this must be new in the last year a lot of it. I see a big
building on the left before I turned into the
00:18:00end. What is that?Harman: Which way did you come from?
Gryzbowski: So I came from the north, so I'm coming south 460.
Harman: Is it like the Missions Building over here?
Gryzbowski: Well we passed vet sciences. My sister was a vet student here and
then there's just scaffolding.
Harman: Oh, yeah. Remember there was a Holiday Inn here, so that's gone and they
are building two hotels. And then like there's all kinds of like restaurants and
shopping that's going in over there off of University Mall, but it continues to
grow and change and buildings go up. It's crazy.
Gryzbowski: And that's also kind of interesting to think about, when I was here
– no cellphones. There was a hurricane that went through and I remember going
to class in the wind and the rain, and then only to find out classes were
canceled. There was really no way to get the word out by email or by cellphone
text, which now you get the alerts sent to
00:19:00you, so thinking about thatdifference. Like how did we survive when we couldn't constantly know where each
other…where we were all the time?
Harman: Right. I'm sure you have stories about walking across the Drillfield.
Every alumni and Hokie seems to have a story about in the bitter cold walking
across the Drillfield.
Gryzbowski: It was always a freezing cold going across the Drillfield. And I
can't remember if they had the paths when I first started, or if they had just
recently done the paths that went across. And I really haven't been to the
Drillfield. Last time we were here I didn't go down and see the memorial, so I
need to do that this time.
Harman: Definitely. Definitely check it out. Had your older siblings attended
Virginia Tech or was it your younger siblings?
Gryzbowski: Older, because I am the youngest.
Harman: So you're the youngest, that's right. Did you ask them for advice?
Gryzbowski: No, not really. Oddly enough my sister said, I won't tell you what
she called them,
00:20:00but she told me to watch out for the [00:21:03 sigeps]. So thatdidn't work so well.
Yeah, we didn't see…we kind of hung in different circles. She's a biology
major and then DVM, so she's a little bit smarter than I am.
Harman: [Laughs] I don't know. What was your freshman year here at Tech? Was it
something you were kind of prepared for or was it a little bit of a shock?
Gryzbowski: I remember feeling lost, like I didn't know where I fit in. Because
when you grow up with the same kids from kindergarten all the way through high
school as I did you kind of feel like oh gosh, now I have to… It's kind of
exciting because you can make your own. Like I don't have to be in the same
dorky group I was in before. I can create my own group. Yeah, it was
intimidating, and you get to meet
00:21:00good people and you got to meet people thatyou never before that you realized you shouldn't be hanging around with. I had
one suitemate who got into drugs and that wasn't something I was used to hanging
around with, so that was an experience, and knowing you know what, I don't want
to hang out with that person.
Harman: Did you see a lot of that during that time? Because that was kind
of…the war on drugs was really initiated I guess in the '80s, so did you see a
lot of drug use?
Gryzbowski: I didn't. I'm kind of naïve, so my kids laugh at me still to this
day. I'm like, "What does that mean?" "You don't know what that slang term…?"
No, I don't know. And then of course having brothers and sisters that grew up in
the '60s you would think I would be a little bit more familiar with them, but
no, I was very naïve coming in and probably still am a little bit naïve and
all that, but yeah, there was definitely drugs going on for sure. I don't think
it's nowadays. Even with the high
00:22:00schools around by me they talk about heroinand it's heavy drugs, and I don't think that was as prevalent. I think it was
more marijuana I guess.
Harman: Party drugs I guess more. Leading into this did you have any difficult
experiences you would feel comfortable talking about, or any stories about your
time here at Virginia Tech that you remember, academic or personal?
Gryzbowski: I remember struggling with 19 credits one time. And really looking
back on I'm upset that I didn't think to take like other people did classes at
my community college. It was not far from me so why didn't I do that, because it
was very stressful, and I didn't do that again.
I was part of the choir and so that was
00:23:00just extra time that I enjoyed singingand doing that, but it was a lot of events and singing. I worked at the
bookstore. Do they still have the library?
Harman: Yeah.
Gryzbowski: Cataloguing books, so I don't know if that's still a thing, but I
think I got $3.50, something like that per hour, which seems like nothing.
Harman: Yeah, its pennies, yeah. But I'm sure that would have been a lot at the time.
Gryzbowski: Well it helped. I mean my parents did pay for all of us to go to
college. I was very fortunate I didn't have to take out loans, and then as I
articulated through and higher I would have to pay a portion. Like I would have
to pay on my books and I would have to pay a portion of this, living off campus
rent, so it got a little bit more… But no, they really served me
00:24:00 right.Harman: So how has your education played out in your life that you received from
Virginia Tech?
Gryzbowski: I think, you know it's funny that I'm in financial aid, and then I
guess people would say, "Oh, are you a finance major?" I'm like, "No, I'm not a
finance major. I hate numbers, math," and I'm in financial aid, but I only need
a calculator. I don't really need much for that.
Harman: Right.
Gryzbowski: But I think a degree from a prominent university really has helped
me I realize as I've gone through all my different career changes, is that I
think it's seen as much better than if I went somewhere else. I'm not proud of
my GPA, but maybe just having the fact that name is recognizable, so I think
that's helped me in my business sense. I wasn't great at accounting, [00:25:59]
that helped me,
00:25:00but I certainly kind of carried through with the idea that Ilike people. I like helping people. The psychology aspect of it and management
aspect of it I think has served me.
Harman: Cool. If someone kind of just says Virginia Tech what's the first thing
you think of?
Gryzbowski: The first thing I think of? Blacksburg. Yeah, of course, I'm going
to think directly back on my fond times. In my office I have a Virginia Tech
bear that I show and a lot of times people are like, "Oh, did you go to Virginia
Tech?" "Yeah, I did." So they will have some story to tell me like, "Oh, my
neighbor went there," or "My mother's best friend went there." Sometimes they
talk about the events that occurred that everyone's mind is on, but mostly it's
just a, "Oh, that's a great school." Everybody is, "How did you like
00:26:00it?" Whenwe first moved to Frederick we moved from Illinois back to this area to
Maryland, a lot of West Virginia fans. I did not have a warm welcome when they
would see…so I think that's when we [moved] to the ACC, and I couldn't believe
how many people were like hokie-haters.
Harman: [Chuckles] Right.
Gryzbowski: And I was like, "Hey, I just went to school there. I didn't play
football." I didn't determine that we went to the ACC.
Harman: Right. So you have the bear in your office and it's like you can always
find someone who went to Virginia Tech, like there's a hokie everywhere it seems
to be.
Gryzbowski: It does. Actually somebody started in the Foundation Office just a
couple of months ago that went to Virginia Tech, and then our Director of
Finance she went to Virginia Tech, and so I'll see it. We used to have this
tradition where every administrator would have to go to graduation, and so we
would all dress up in our regalia and I have
00:27:00mine. That has the orange andmaroon, and that's when you can kind of look around like, "Oh, look, there's
another hokie." So yeah, I'm really aware of it.
Harman: I also love being able to talk to other alumni and be able to use like
colloquial terms and when I say Slusher Wing they know exactly where I'm talking
about. If I say Dietrick or D2 they know exactly where I'm talking about. And
I've had this experience running into people in the most random places that you
never think someone who went to Virginia Tech or knew someone who went to
Virginia Tech and I have a shirt or a hat or something on, and they are able to
kind of share their experience. I think that's what makes this project and kind
of these stories so interesting, because even throughout the years stories are
kind of built on top of each other. It's pretty neat.
Gryzbowski: I'm taking a class, a body-building class, body-sculpting it's
called, and the teacher, I was wearing my Virginia Tech shorts and she said,
"Oh, did you go there?" And I said, "Yeah." And she said,
00:28:00"Oh my parents livedown that way and they go to eat at the dining hall there."
Harman: [Laughs]
Gryzbowski: And I said, "Oh." Just come in and you can eat. She is like, "Oh
yeah, the food is so good there."
Harman: That's awesome.
Gryzbowski: That was a different experience for me.
Harman: Yeah. When you were here what were your dining options?
Gryzbowski: What was it, cordon blah we called it. It was cordon bleu, so there
really weren't the different distinctions. We would go to Dietrick and dine. I
think that's where I gained my 15 pounds, because they have the ice cream cart
right as you walk out. It's almost like you can't…
Harman: You can't say no.
Gryzbowski: No, you can't say no. And then the food wasn't that great, so I
didn't eat that much, but it was really fatty. I think they did have like a
taco. One of the [00:29:51 stairwells] you could go up they had like a Mexican choice.
Harman: So there was no West End or all these places you hear
00:29:00about today?Gryzbowski: No.
Harman: Lavery Hall, behind McBryde, you know, they have like the hibachi grill
and sushi.
Gryzbowski: Oh no.
Harman: The food is [00:30:15] out there and that's probably why you said they
come to campus and just eat at the dining halls.
Gryzbowski: Yeah, you never would have done that before.
Harman: Yeah. [Chuckles] My brother was here in the mid '90s and he says the
same thing. Are you still involved with Virginia Tech in any way, or are you
just a proud alumni?
Gryzbowski: Yeah. I have to say I haven't really gotten involved. I mean we're
only five hours, 4½ or five hours away, but it feels like a long way,
especially when you've got your kids and your work and your family to try to
keep together. So yeah, I could do better, and maybe I will as I get my kids all
set to go out and come to Virginia
00:30:00 Tech.Harman: Is he thinking about Virginia Tech?
Gryzbowski: He had, but you know it's always that tricky balance like if you
push too much they push away, so early decisions that are going fast. We did
have a college fair, where I work we have a college fair every year, so there
was a Virginia Tech representative there with many other colleges, and he was
looking at even more expensive schools. The tuition here has gone up a lot since
I was here, a lot, out of state of course even more now, so that's a little
frustrating, the fact that we live in Maryland and Virginia has so many great schools.
Harman: You're close, yeah.
Gryzbowski: We'll see.
Harman: There was a report from Gallup about a year ago talking about alumni
becoming so involved and so engaged. I know we talked about it not so much yet,
but what do you think the reasons would be why Virginia Tech alumni are so
involved in their
00:31:00 university?Gryzbowski: Well, I think it's like anything when you have such a great
experience. I mean this is a college town, it is. I remember maybe much to the
town's people chagrin that we kind of took over, and you felt like you owned the
area, and not in a bad way, I just mean in the sense of oh great. We're going to
go do this. We're going to go do that and go down Main Street and it was like
your town.
Harman: Very cool. What changes have you seen over time here? You said you came
down last year, but were there large gaps where you hadn't visited and some
changes you've seen?
Gryzbowski: Yeah. I'd say when we had season tickets it was probably back…he's
18 now, so probably like a 8-year gap from the time we were coming down not
regularly, but for ball season.
00:32:00We were coming down and we weren't because we had a son in baseball and soccerand football, and whatever else activities they had, so yeah, I feel a little
disconnected. I mean I do get the mailings and the phone calls, and all that.
And of course I have siblings that went to Virginia Tech and my brother played
lacrosse here, and my sister Patty she was a physical education major. That's
what they call it, and then Doug was a journalism major, so we kind of talk
about our differences, but we all have the same love. I just wrote on Facebook
that we were coming down here and my sister who lives in Hawaii now, my second
oldest sister who went here she was like, "Oh Tech Tech VPI." I wrote back,
00:33:00"Hokie hokie hokie hi," so yeah, it's kind of that connection.Harman: Are there any changes that you would like to see or any recommendations
you would have for the university as a whole? You work in higher ed, so is there
anything you would like to speak to that?
Gryzbowski: I think college cost as a whole does need to come down. It just
seems like it's gotten out of control, and fortunately I don't have to pay
student loans back, and that's kind of what got me into higher ed was my passion
for these students that were stuck. I worked for Sally Mae and they were stuck
with loan debt. And I don't know what the problem was, but they didn't realize
and they were confused, and I thought if only I could have helped them before
they got to this mess.
Harman: Right.
Gryzbowski: So that's kind of what got me into working at a college was that
experience working from the customer service
00:34:00side at Sally Mae. So yeah, debt. Idon't know the right way to do it. You know all those political charged free
college, I don't know. I don't know what the right course is, but we definitely
need to do something, because clearly education is a path for people to rise
above, economic poverty and just do good things with their life instead of going
the bad course.
Harman: Right. How much of Virginia Tech do you share with your students at the
community college?
Gryzbowski: Some of the students are really interested and curious to know,
like, "What did you major in? What did you do there? What did you like about
Virginia Tech?" Because these students want to go on. I work at a community
college, so they're hopefully transferring on to a four-year school, so you can
tell they are thinking, okay, if I get into general studies and I want to go
elsewhere what should I be looking for? What do I want?
And you know
00:35:00some of them do want the cultural aspect of it, and some of them,no… University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, I just want to study and I don't
need to be distracted by so many people.
Harman: I just wonder what, looking from their perspective and they see you as
an alumni if you possibly inspired them in some way, and whether you know or
maybe you don't know inspired them to attend Virginia Tech, if they see and they
know your experience here, do you ever feel that way?
Gryzbowski: Yeah, and that's why I wear my Virginia Tech shirt on transfer day.
Any time we have a chance they encourage all faculty and staff to proudly show
their alma mater. And it's just a way to let students see what else is out
there, you know. It's so easy to just go down the road maybe and Mt. St. Mary's
is really close to us. Hood
00:36:00College where I used to work is right…but thesemay be even more expensive schools. But to just know that there's other options
and to see your pride in your school I think that says something.
Harman: You talked about the business fraternity or organization that you were
in. Were you involved in other things around the campus or on campus?
Gryzbowski: Not so much. And I think still to this day I do better when I focus
on not so many things.
Harman: Just maybe one thing.
Gryzbowski: Maybe not one thing, but with three kids that's not really possible,
but I'm not one of those people that can have ten things up in the air, which I
see these people that do that and I am very envious and I wish I could. But I
needed to put, what I wasn't putting in my academics what was reserved I needed
to put into my
00:37:00academics. Yeah, I didn't really get too involved in anything else.Harman: What would you like people to know about you?
Gryzbowski: Hmm, there's not too much to know. [Laughs]
Harman: Now come on.
Gryzbowski: No, it's true.
Harman: You're being modest.
Gryzbowski: No, not really. That's why I said I'm kind of boring. I'm actually
pretty boring, and that's what I always say when I have to do their background
checks for employment or whatever. I'm like, "Yeah, I'm really boring. You're
not going to find really much of anything on me." You do have to find I think
something that gives you passion. And I think a lot of people ending up finding
their careers because they wanted to make money or what have you, but in the end
it's true that whatever you're passionate about you're going to do great and
you're going to be successful. So I guess I have found my passion. I love
helping the students and I like it.
00:38:00Harman: What would you like people to know about Virginia Tech that they maynot, positive or negative?
Gryzbowski: Hmm. I don't know if I'm… You know my husband could probably tell
you all the different sports and how they've grown and he has a good connection.
He's such a sports enthusiast with basketball and football, and I'm not. So I
would say his side of things is all about the sports. My side of things is it's
more about the education, and obviously I was telling you about the psychology
instructor I had who went on to publish and is well known in circles, that I
think you attract really great professors. And I think we have good professors,
at the community college level too, so I'm not saying that, but I think it
affords them the ability to do research and to contribute to what's going on in
mainstream
00:39:00America. I do think that the name represents like an opportunity andexpansive education that you might not have elsewhere at a smaller institution.
Harman: Right.
Gryzbowski: So I'm proud. I'm proud to be from there, even though I don't feel
like I contributed much to it, and that's what kind of frustrates me is I didn't
maybe take advantage of what was available when I should have.
Harman: Do you think you will share that advice with your students and your
children as well when they go to college?
Gryzbowski: Yeah. It's a different group that I talk to, but I do try to counsel
them and that's kind of my job, is not just help them do financial aid, but
counsel them.
Harman: Yeah.
Gryzbowski: And I don't have all the answers, but certainly I try to make them
aware of questions they should have about themselves.
Harman: Are you excited about this weekend, the anniversary? Are you excited to
see some folks maybe you haven't
00:40:00seen in 25 years?Gryzbowski: Um, yeah. You know what, there's probably going to be people that I
haven't seen in 25 years. Yeah. And if I will recognize them I don't know. You
know we were looking at the list that have actually signed up, and I didn't, and
I realized I put only my married name. I didn't put my maiden name on it, but
yeah, there's definitely going to probably be some people I recognize. [Chuckles]
Harman: Are you going to the dinner?
Gryzbowski: Yes, there is a dinner tonight. I have to find out where that is. I
actually haven't even checked in yet, so I need to do that.
Harman: Yeah.
Gryzbowski: And then the group of us that normally gets together are going to
tailgate. Got a good spot in lot 1.
Harman: Oh, okay. Nice. Is that a pretty large group of people?
Gryzbowski: No. It's probably only like 6, 7 or 8 of us.
Harman: Very cool. I'll let you go so you can get checked in, but this last
question is there anything that I haven't asked you that you thought I
00:41:00would oranything you would like to add?
Gryzbowski: No. I told you I'm boring. And probably I would have said no to this
interview like not that long ago, but as I get older I find myself saying you
know what, I need to do more. Do something you wouldn't normally do.
Harman: Yeah. Another cool thing about this project is this interview will be
housed in Special Collections, so like your great great-grandchildren can listen
to this interview 100 years from now and hear about your time at this university
and a little bit about yourselves. I think that a lot of people don't really
know the significance of that I think until it's too late. Like I wish we would
have interviewed this person, or I wish we would have talked to this person. I
wish we would have had this recording of someone telling their life story.
That's what an oral history is about.
Gryzbowski: Yes. As you get older you realize I didn't really get to know my
grandma. Because my parents were so much older I didn't really get to know my
grandparents, and so that would be
00:42:00perfect to hear about their experiences andwhere they went, and apparently they were pretty well educated and just learned something.
Harman: Right.
Gryzbowski: So yeah, my interview I know is not going to change the world, but
it could be interesting.
Harman: Exactly. Someone can listen to it years from now, that you will have a
place in Virginia Tech history, which is pretty cool I think.
Gryzbowski: Uh-oh. So this is on record, my permanent record. [Laughs]
Harman: This is on your permanent record. I want to ask you how to pronounce
your last name.
Gryzbowski: Sure. It's Grzybowski.
Harman: So Pam Grzybowski, class of 1991. Thank you so much for doing this. I
really appreciate it.
Gryzbowski: Thank you.
Harman: Nice meeting you.
Gryzbowski:
00:43:00You too. 00:44:00