Annette Nesbit, administrative assistant to SEEK Director Randall Clarke, had clocked 10 years in the banking industry before she switched her career to one in higher education and came to work at Brooklyn College in 1996. Today, she works closely with Clarke in the SEEK (Search for Education Elevation and Knowledge) program, managing the program’s daily operations, including supervising college assistants, processing eAppointments, and monitoring budgets, among other tasks. She is also the liaison with the Admissions Office for incoming freshmen.” “Annette is the backbone of the SEEK program,” says Clarke. “She has uplifted several directors, a long list of advisers, and countless students. Her support often transcends her position as she has filled gaps helping with advisement and assisting with recruitment and enrollment efforts—and the list goes on.” Nesbit, who earned a master’s degree in math education while working at Brooklyn College, finds connecting with students especially rewarding. From among the countless students she has assisted over the years, two particular encounters stand out. “There was a student who came to me crying because she was told not to take a certain course because she would fail it,” says Nesbit. “I told her to prove the person wrong by doing her best to pass the course. She came back at the end of the term; she passed with an A. “ Nesbit recalls that another student had a math phobia. “I worked with her from freshman year until she graduated to overcome that fear,” she says. “She contacted me this month to let me know she completed her first semester in nursing school and to thank me for helping her conquer her fear of math.” A commitment to students is clearly at the foundation of Nesbit’s work at Brooklyn College, where she has been an adjunct lecturer in the Math Department, teaching SEEK students, and an academic adviser for the BC Bound program, which allows qualified students who have earned their GED or TASC high school equivalency certification to enter Brooklyn College as full-time freshmen. When not on campus, she enjoys watching basketball, travelling, and spending time with her family, including her two sons—“both college graduates,” she proudly shares.
