Editor’s note: ‘Day in the Life’ is an occasional series chronicling the responsibilities of the newsmakers, characters and public figures on campus.

In a pink conference room Darya Rotblat sits at one end of a dark wooden table, frantically scribbling in a white notebook about bike rentals and Syracuse RideShare. Every so often she glances up, gives her opinion about the subject matter with animated gestures and returns back to her notes.

Rotblat, Syracuse University’s director of the Office of Off-Campus and Commuter Services, is far from her college dream to work for a nonprofit or as a lobbyist for health care on Capitol Hill. Instead, she takes care of students’ needs, such as off-campus housing issues, acting as a liaison between landlords and students; overall acting as a resource to students. But she doesn’t mind.

Rotblat described the process of how she got to where she is today as both quick and long. Although it took some time before she found herself on campus, once she was hired in 2005 she quickly rose through the ranks to her current position.

Yet she wouldn’t be situated in her office at 754 Ostrom Ave. if it were not for her decision to change career paths.

During her time at Hobart & William Smith College, Rotblat majored in health policy. Yet as graduation drew closer, she realized working as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., wasn’t what she wanted. Panic set in.

‘Everything became this rush of, ‘Oh s***, I need to find a job,” she said.

She sought out other options in areas she was familiar with. She’d spent three years studying health, but outside of class she was immersed in student affairs through her time as a resident adviser and student government president. Rotblat took a leap of faith.

‘I kind of just took that path and it happened,’ she said. 

After spending a year as a resident director at Franklin Pierce University, and another two years in the same position at the Pennsylvania College of Technology, Rotblat and her husband looked to move closer to where she grew up in Rochester. This became reality once her husband was hired at SU.

Rotblat had a baby, left her job and waitressed for a few months as she searched for a new job. Her husband talked to Kerry Heckman, program coordinator of the Office of Off-Campus and Commuter Services and now one of Rotblat’s two colleagues, about hiring his wife.

Rotblat was hired as an assistant director, promoted to associate director in 2007 and became director in 2009.

‘I really haven’t been in this role all that long,’ she said. ‘I feel like I’m young and I’m very lucky to be in the spot that I’m in.’

 

10 a.m.:

Rotblat has been situated in her office since 9:45 a.m. answering emails. This is out of the ordinary, as she usually is in at about 8:30 a.m., but she had to take her son to the dentist.

She’s finished her meeting with Scott Vanderpool, manager of parking and transit services. They discussed issues such as getting a bus from James Street, a bike-rental opportunity and Syracuse RideShare, a carpool service organized by Student Association and parking and transit services.

She said it is important to work collaboratively with parking and transit services because the office serves commuter students and off-campus students who tend to need bus transportation to campus.

 

11 a.m.:

Rotblat starts walking down Ostrom Avenue for her lunch meeting at Samrat Indian Restaurant on South Crouse Avenue. She walks quickly and multitasks, checking her phone and reading emails as she walks.

But Rotblat appreciates this time she gets to be out of her building.

‘Every day is different and you don’t know what to expect,’ she says. ‘I am not the kind of person who likes to sit at a desk.’

She hesitantly glances across Waverly Avenue as cars quickly whiz back and forth. She decides to wait a little longer before crossing. Rotblat looks back, smiles and says, ‘I am such a bad crosser. I make sure there are no cars coming at least.’

She situates herself into a booth by a window in Samrat and waits for a woman in the Onondaga County Health Department who is part of an organization to make college campuses smoke-free.

Rotblat doesn’t stray far from her health roots as she is part of several health committees and programs, such as having a smoke-free campus and medical amnesty, as well as being on call for the off-campus crisis outreach.

‘I get to keep my passions alive, and because I have interest I get pulled into a lot of health programs and committees,’ she says.

She checks her phone again, pulls out a large orange folder onto the table and scans through the material.

Due to a misunderstanding, the woman doesn’t show up for lunch. Rotblat puts a $5 bill on the table and walks out of the restaurant. She says she feels bad for taking up the table and not ordering anything and feels sympathetic for the waitress due to her own stint as one.

 

Noon:

Rotblat goes into the SU Bookstore in Schine Student Center to grab prizes for an upcoming Earth Day celebration. She wanders around with her arms full of items, examining the merchandise, and makes multiple trips to the counter to drop off items.

She grabs a unique checkered orange and blue hat off the rack. She glances at it with a smile.

‘Well,’ she says and pauses to look at it again. ‘Someone will like it.’

Rotblat pays and leaves with two large white bags filled with the merchandise. She slings the largest one over her shoulder. She wanders through the Schine Dining Center to grab a garlic knot and a peanut butter cookie. She adjusts one of the bags.

‘I’m like Santa Claus,’ she says and laughs.

 

1 p.m.:

Rotblat returns back to the office and is thrown into a variety of tasks. She grabs the mail. She then grabs a Coke, which she occasionally sips as she talks to work-study students and the office coordinator. She claims she has a Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper every day.

Rotblat eventually wanders back up to her office, but not before she shows off the miniature gnome she bought as a prize.

She answers emails as Bruno Mars’ ‘The Lazy Song’ plays through the computer. She says unanswered messages drive her crazy, and she tries to have six items or less in her inbox at a time.

 

2 p.m.:

Rotblat doesn’t stop working for a moment. While sending emails, she’s constantly interrupted by phone calls and people wandering in and out of her office. Beside her computer are many Post-it notes with tasks that need to be accomplished.

‘At any moment, the phone could ring,’ she says. ‘I think that’s what makes it interesting, but you have to be flexible. I mean, I have to do lists but some of these items’ — she pauses to motion to the Post-it notes beside the computer — ‘have been here for a month, but you have to prioritize but realize that you might not just get to it.’

Her office is a constant reminder of everything she’s accomplished over the years. Framed photographs of Ten Tons of Love, an end-of-the-year donation drive that collects furniture and clothing for FirstEnglishLutheranChurch, hang on the wall. A large pink flower in a pot, which stands at about a foot tall, is a remnant of a donation item she kept.

An elephant stuffed animal sits in one corner. An OrangeSeeds volunteer bought it for her when she was involved in the program.

There is a shelf with pictures of her husband and two sons and various awards. Attached to one of the shelves is a scribbled drawing of a turtle made by one of her sons.

She stretches for a moment. ‘I’m tired, it’s nap time,’ she says.

But her day is nowhere near over. She goes to a graduate student housing meeting. Then she attends an end-of-the-year banquet for the SU and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry faculty bowling league, which she has belonged to for two and a half years. Later she attends the lacrosse game versus Hobart, her husband’s alma mater and the male counterpart of William Smith College, where she went to school. But not before they attend an alumni gathering before the game.

Looking back, Rotblat would never imagine being in the position she’s in, but she wouldn‘t change anything.

‘Did I imagine working with off-campus students? No,’ she says, with a smile. ‘I have never rented an apartment in my life. That’s the irony of my job.’

cbidwill@syr.edu

Published on April 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Colleen: cbidwill@syr.edu