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Humans of Fort Lewis College: Gail Tuthill
What's your title, and what do you do on your job? And how many years have you been at FLC?
I work in Marketing and Communications under the Division of Institutional Advancement. My official title is Web Developer/Analytics & SEO Coordinator. Along with Scott Kadera, I develop and manage the FLC website. In addition, I work to improve the visibility of the FLC website on the web, track and analyze the resulting web traffic metrics, and handle online advertising via Google AdWords. My job is technical and always changing which keeps it exciting. This is my 7th year at FLC.
What do you like best about working at FLC, and why?
I love the people at FLC. The staff, faculty and students are the best. It is what keeps me coming back day after day and year after year.
Where are you from, and how did you get from there to here?
Born in Michigan, I left the state when I was a young child. My father was a chemical engineer and in building his career, moved the family a few times. I did return to Michigan for college, graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in Medical Technology. But Michigan was not where I wanted to be so upon graduation, I headed west. I chose to live in Denver to be closer to my brother, a geophysical engineering student at Colorado School of Mines.
Eventually I landed in Albuquerque where I worked as a microbiologist for a few years. It was there I met my husband-to-be, Jon. Jon’s family has owned a cabin at Vallecito since the early 60s and it was his dream to someday move to southwest Colorado. After a bit of planning and with a lot of blind faith, we both quit our jobs, made the move, and the dream became a reality. We were married in the courthouse in Durango and happily settled into our new life.
Three kids and 34 years later, Durango is still home.
What's your favorite thing to do outside of work, and why do you love it?
Traveling. It is my passion. Nothing is more exciting to me than exploring new places, experiencing different cultures and trying new foods. We are looking forward to a new type of adventure this year; one that will focus on the U.S. and Canada rather than foreign lands.
We recently acquired an older Airstream and will be hitting the open road in search of new places to explore. One goal is to visit the remaining 9 states that I have not been to yet. When not traveling, Jon and I enjoy spending time on our boat at Vallecito (yes, we still have that cabin) and hiking in the Moab area.
What's an interesting thing about you that most people don't know?
One of my childhood moves was a life-changer. It was 1967 when my parents announced to my siblings and me that we would be moving to South America; Peru to be exact. After a lot of discussion and more than a few tears about leaving friends behind, we made the move. Our new home was in a coastal village about 120 miles north of Lima, called Hacienda Paramonga, where my dad was in charge of starting up a plastics plant.
At first glance, this Peruvian village was small, isolated and surrounded by miles and miles of sugar cane fields. The place was not even remotely exciting to 4 American kids but it didn’t take long to uncover the opportunities and to embrace our new life. We were within walking distance of the ocean, had access to a ‘club’ with a great swimming pool and best of all- the stables were close-by.
Having inherited my Kentucky-born mother’s love of horses, I fell hard for the local Caballo de Paso Peruano or Peruvian Paso horses. When not being used to work the cane fields, we were allowed to saddle them up and ride to our heart’s content. Some of my fondest memories of living in Paramonga revolve around horseback riding to the local Chimúruins (predates the Inca culture) and exploring the area as only kids can do. It was the beginning of a love affair with an extraordinary country and its people.
My parents eventually moved to Lima and lived in Peru for almost 30 years. I have gone back several times over the years and my siblings and I made it a priority to introduce our children to Peru and its culture. Along with their cousins, my kids have visited the headwaters of the Amazon, ridden in a reed boat to the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, explored Cuzco and hiked Machu Picchu. They were the only children to have visited a Macaw Research Center in the Peruvian jungle and they have studied early Peruvian cultures at museums in Lima.
Those children, now young adults, have traveled to many places since their initial trip to Peru. They have each grown up to have adventurous spirits, to respect other cultures, and to look at the world with a global perspective. These are qualities my siblings and I gained as a result of living in Peru and they are qualities we hoped to instill in our children as well. I believe we succeeded. My husband and I hope to make yet another trip to Peru -- this time to introduce the next generation, our grandson, to the wonders of this fascinating country and the joys of travel.