Anna O'Nan doesn't remember a time when she wasn't a part of the Mississippi State family.
The campus event coordinator for the Office of Admissions and Scholarships said she remembers wearing the MSU cheerleader outfit as a toddler, attending many, many athletic events, and yelling for the Bulldogs.
"I also remember that on days when I'd get sick at school, I'd sometimes come to my mom's office instead of going home," said O'Nan, whose mother, Cathy Lammons, is a longtime employee for the MSU Foundation. O'Nan's younger sister, Abby Thompson, also works on campus in the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer.
To O'Nan, it just seemed like fate when she graduated from MSU in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in communication and then immediately went to work for the university.
"Having a mom who has worked here for so many years and having lived in Starkville for so long, it was just a natural transition for me to work here," said the 27-year-old who plans many of the university's recruitment activities.
She coordinates the fall, spring, and summer school Orientation sessions for students entering MSU who need help with course selection, parking permits, textbooks, and more. She also oversees Fall Preview Days.
"Preview Days are for high school juniors and seniors who come to campus and experience life at Mississippi State. We try to tell them everything we have to offer them," O'Nan said of the work that she feels makes a real difference for students.
"This time in their lives is a determining factor in what they will eventually become," she said.
And this idea definitely hits home for O'Nan as she looks back on the path her life has taken to this point. As a young wife and mother, she also is balancing coursework for a master's degree in public policy and administration.
"All of us who work here impact students in one way or another, and I like being part of that," she said.