Five times four

In 1988, I signed a four-year contract with the CCO, and I remember thinking that June 1992 sounded like it would take forever to arrive. Now it's 2008, and I've spent my entire career thus far working in campus ministry. It's very cool that my earlier dreams of working in writing and editing have been useful to the mission of this ministry which has changed so many lives (including my own) for the better.

Here are some reflections which I sent out in my newsletter a couple months ago.

In May, I was recognized for 20 years of working for the CCO. Twenty years. Two decades. Five times my original four-year contract agreement. I guess those who jokingly predicted that I’d be a “lifer” weren’t so far off the mark. Here is an excerpt of what my friend and colleague Ginger Weeber wrote about me on the occasion of my 20-year recognition:

Amy Maczuzak is a fine writer and editor with a dedicated heart for the mission of the CCO. In all of the work that she does, she is committed to serving our organization and staff members, and to furthering our work.

While Amy would have rather started out writing for the CCO, she did not. She came on staff making a four-year commitment as an intern at Geneva College. From Geneva, she took a position as Director of the Kirk House for First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Erie, Pennsylvania. Her good work and relationship with Gannon administration helped cement the CCO’s relationship with the university. She also directed the Erie Summer Project, a summer internship/discipleship program for college students from CCO schools. While working at Gannon, Amy had three co-workers, three CCO supervisors, and two pastors in four years. Transition was the theme of those years.

Amy left Gannon to work in the CCO office in a dual position, as Project Administrator for our Training and Jubilee Departments, and as Writer for the Communications Department. Many were the battles for her time because she did both jobs so well. Now she has the privilege of focusing on working in the Communications Department, making sure our constituents understand in a clear and compelling way what makes the CCO tick.

As staff people, we see some of what she does when we receive the staff e-news and On Campus, see our staff profiles on the website, and read press releases for various events. What we don’t see are the hours she puts into polishing those very works, into interviewing former students for the website, into reading staff newsletters for stories to tell our donors, and into helping various staff people edit their newsletters. I am just touching the tip of the iceberg of Amy’s work.

What I enjoy about Amy is her kind heart, her sometimes-acerbic wit, or appreciation of such, her thoughtful way of listening and offering insight into situations or books or events, and that she laughs easily, even at herself. She is one of those people that makes true the statement that “still waters run deep.” Part of what I enjoy about working at the CCO is Amy as well as her good work. I hope she stays with the CCO another 20 years.

I thank Ginger for her kind words, and I thank you for your faithful friendship and support throughout these last two decades. I count it a privilege to do work that I love for a mission in which I believe so strongly—and of which I am a product myself. Thank you for making it possible for me to continue to participate in the work of transforming college students to transform the world.