Alumni Q&A: Hope Harrison Avery `88

Hope Harrison Avery is an HR director with an agency providing services to individuals with intellectual disabilities. She uses her sociology degree every day in not only recruiting but in developing staff. She considers herself a servant leader who sees the value in empowering staff to do their best.

Q. What skills did you learn at CSU that have benefited you the most?

How to get along with others. To have faith that everything WILL work out. Ms. Dolores Jones’ Etiquette Class during Interterm has been invaluable to me on more occasions than I can remember. 

Q. Do you feel having a liberal arts core background has given you advantages in your career?

I feel more well-rounded because of my liberal arts background. I am able to adapt to situations more easily because I have a general knowledge of many different things.    

Q. Tell us about the faculty members who impacted you as an undergraduate? 

There are so many that impacted me, but two of my favorites were Ms. Katherine Huger (economics) and Dr. Graham Tomlinson (sociology). Both of them taught me to use my critical thinking skills and ask questions to fully understand things, not just accept them. I understand that I don’t always have to agree with everything but respect that others have the right to see things different than I do. 

Q. What do you think contributed to your success?

I think my major set me on the right path, but it wasn’t until I decided to further my education with a master’s in human resource development that I felt I was truly in my element to be successful. I am a people person, and I first started really learning about people at CSU.

Related Stories