In her final weeks at Weber State University, Yasmen Simonian reflected on her career, time at Weber State University and advice for future healthcare professionals. The following is a Q&A with The Signpost.
Q: What are some of your proudest moments at Weber State?
A: Graduation every year is my proudest moment. It’s kind of like getting your kids married off and you hope for a better future for them.
I know they can get jobs easily with all of our graduates. If they want one, they can have one because we have shortages, we have needs, and every time I nominate a student and they get an award, I get so excited.
Q: What were some of the things that kept you staying with us at Weber just for so long?
A: I love my job, I love what I did. I was a faculty member and I still am. I’m an emeritus faculty now. I loved everything I did, I love the students, I loved the interaction I had with them, I like the community and I love the support I got from administration.
I was a chair for the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences for 12 years, and we made things happen.
We had the first online program degrees to offer, bachelor of science degree and then associate degree. We were the first in the nation, if not the first in the world.
So we offered education to remote places like Sultana, Alaska, or other isolated communities, and we were able to give them education that they needed for the community.
Q: What kind of changes have you seen with the university in your time here, and what would you like the school to continue focusing on going forward? What advice do you have for administration to keep improving Weber?
A: I have seen a lot of changes. When I first started, we had 8,500 students total, now we have that in our college alone. We have 35,000 students off and on, here and there, all together.
Support and understanding of what we do is very important to us. So to continue to understand what we do, help us with communication, recruitment and marketing so we can show off what we do, what we have. That’s important.
As far as our college goes, Dr. Darcy Carter is following me. She’s the next dean. She’s been my associate dean, and she’s done wonderful things. And I know our college will be in great hands from now on.
So I’m really happy but I’m going to miss everybody very much. I’ll be teaching one class online, so I still have my finger in there. But what I really would like is for everyone to let the community know what we really have.
We’re very involved in the community, not just the healthcare community but the rest of the community, and we need to keep that.
The support from administration is important, and understanding what we do is very important, because when we ask for things, if they don’t know what it is exactly, they won’t be able to support us as well as they could if they totally understood what it is we do.
Also, the legislators, I wish they would understand the worth of our people, faculty and staff, and give us more money for salaries.
Q: What originally drew you to teaching, and then what were some of the things that just really confirmed that decision for you?
A: Working with my colleagues, faculty, chairs, staff and students, that’s what motivates me to come to work.
It’s time. I don’t want to be antiquated. We need new ideas, we need energy, I still have energy, but Darcy’s got a lot more energy coming in with new things and new ways of letting faculty and staff know that we appreciate them.
It’s not just the money, but what they do and how we appreciate it is important. So we need to showcase what they do.
Q: Are there any final messages you would like to give to your students, faculty or people of Weber?
A: Know your worth, don’t give up and go for what you want. Don’t put a lid on your abilities. If you don’t like something, find out why and fix it.
Always stand up for your rights in a good, diplomatic and educated way before you make any decisions. Look at both sides. Educate yourself with everything that you can see and read. Don’t be a bunch of sheep following people. Figure out your own thing, and your own abilities. Stand up for your rights after you have educated yourself.
We’re not kind these days. We need to be kind to each other and be considerate of others.
Being in healthcare, don’t forget to be compassionate. Without patients, we don’t have jobs… We do teach our people to help save lives, and don’t forget why you are here.
Your skills are important, but they’re 10%. Ninety percent of it is how you care about other people and how you deal with things and how you treat people. Being honest and ethical is very important, being kind to others, and being able to communicate.
This is the era of AI and social media, and you forget to look at people in their eyes and smile at them. I’m also guilty of that, but people are important. Don’t you forget that.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length, clarity and style.
