Michelle Abrahamson Robell is the epitome of “Blue, Gold and Grateful.”
The Poland, Ohio, native and Kent State University graduate loves her alma mater so much she insisted that her wedding colors be blue and gold (no matter that she was the only Kent State alum in the wedding).
And while Robell sings the university’s praises, she said it wasn’t until she had some life experience under her belt that she truly began to appreciate just how much her time at Kent State impacted her. What Robell took with her was more than simply academic experience, she also learned how to excel on any path she takes in life, and she’s taken quite a few different paths along the way.
Now a longtime resident of California, Robell was back in Kent visiting old friends over the holidays when Kent State Today had the chance to sit down with her to discuss her recent recognition in Millennium Magazine's Fourteenth Edition of Marquis Who’s Who, which recognizes distinguished professionals in a variety of fields and categories. Robell was recognized in the education category.
Robell says she credits her experiences at Kent State to leading her to her true purpose in life and helping to solidify the decision to pursue teaching as a career path. Although, when she graduated from Kent State she didn’t set out to be a teacher.
“I really wanted to be a clinical child psychologist. That was my core hope,” said Robell, who graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Kent State in 1989. “Then I went to graduate school and for a bunch of different reasons, I ended up choosing Industrial Organization Psychology rather than clinical psychology and went the whole business route.”
This led her to internships in New York City, which brought her to a critical point in her post-college journey once the internships were over. “It’s either I stay here or I go wherever,” she said, adding that she always had a dream of seeing what California was like. “Do I start the feelers in New York or drive to where I know no one?” she asked herself.
And just like that, she left New York City with whatever she could fit in her car and made her way to a new life in California, never having been to the state before. The U.S. economy was in a recession at the time, and Robell read an article in TIME magazine that said one of the best places to look for a job was Silicon Valley. So, she started driving around the area, making cold calls to HR departments and putting in applications. Within three months, she had her first job, in the compensation department at Xerox.
“It’s not with children, but it’s with people, so I just continued on that path,” Robell said. Two years later corporate downsizing hit and Robell was laid off. Again, she was met with another inflection point in her career.
This time, the downsizing led her to a career in executive compensation consulting with major companies. The work became more and more about numbers and less about working with people. Robell said she realized this was not what she envisioned for her career.
“I thought back to my time at Kent and I asked myself, ‘What was your joy? What motivated you?’” She looked at colleagues who were 10 years ahead of her in her current career and considered whether she could be happy or feel a sense of purpose doing what they do. The answer was no.
As she tried to put herself back into the mindset she had as a student at Kent State, she was reminded of how she was always driven to work with children and also how much she enjoyed being an adjunct instructor in the psychology department her senior year. She realized it was teaching that would give her the sense of purpose she was searching for.
Making the change from a numbers-based career to teaching would mean giving up all the connections and career progress she had already made. It meant having to start all over again. But just like the decision to move from NYC to the West Coast, she took the leap.
That was 26 years ago.
Reflecting on the choices she made which finally led to finding her sense of purpose and joy in life, Robell had some advice for current Kent State students that she wanted to share.
After acquiring the additional education and certification required, Robell got a job teaching at Mountain View Whisman School District in Mountain View, California. Since 2000, she’s been an elementary school teacher at Palo Alto Unified School District and she loves it.
“As a first grade teacher, I have my one classroom of my 20-some students all day, every day for 180 days,” Robell said. “It is a true community and it is just the most amazing thing each and every day to come in, unlock that door and I’ve got all these little six and seven years olds coming in to learn and be a part of a community that can’t be found anywhere else.”
Thinking over all the twists and turns her career has taken since she graduated, Robell offers this one final message to Kent State students:
“Stay in touch,” she said. “The connections we make during our college years can come back in the most unexpected and meaningful ways years and decades later.”