CofC Faces to Know: Edie Hering

Name: Edie Hering

Hometown: Mt. Clemens, Michigan (although, I grew up on James Island)

Education/Background: I originally planned to go into counseling and doubled-majored in psychology and religion. It took me another 12 years (including a few years of working in higher ed) to get started on my master’s degree in adult education. As a first-gen college student who struggled with her undergraduate degree, I knew I wanted to work with students in some sort of advisory capacity, and that program helped me take the necessary steps to transition into advising. Afterward, I worked in MUSC’s College of Health Professions’ student life office and then with clinical education. It was the combination of my years in higher ed, my degrees and my experiences at MUSC that brought me to my current role in pre-health advising. It might not have been a straight path, but I think I ended up where I belong!

Job title: Director, Pre-Professional Health Advising

How long have you worked at the College? Three years (May 8, 2023)

What are your job responsibilities? Pretty much anything related to pre-health on campus: managing events (like MUSC Night, CofC HealthConnect, alumni panels, Nursing Open Houses, etc.), holding presentations for prospective/incoming/current students, developing workshops, coordinating the test prep courses with Kaplan, website/social media, maintaining/developing relationships with pre-health graduate programs and meeting with students (prospective, current and alumni). I share the pre-health advising load with Mrs. Aroo Sonekar, and my assigned advisees are in the Schools of Natural and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Computing, and Mathematics.

What do you like most about your job? Meeting with students! Obviously!

What question do you get asked most in your job and what’s your typical answer? What major should I declare? The short answer is “anything that you want.” The longer answer is: “Anything you want, but keep in mind there are more efficient majors. That being said, you need to pick something you are interested in and like because you’ll do better in those classes and likely get better grades. Just keep in mind that you will still have to take the prerequisite classes for your graduate program. If you want to major in studio art, that’s fantastic! Just know that you will also need to make time for some science classes!”

What’s your favorite location on campus and why? The Cistern is beautiful, but the SNES courtyard has DINOSAURS!

What are your hobbies? I love to travel! I’m also into photography, baking (I’m in my sourdough era), collecting antiques, spending time with friends and family, going to theater performances or concerts, visiting museums … so many other little things.

What personal and/or professional accomplishment are you most proud of? Professionally, it was going back to school 12ish years after undergrad to complete my master’s degree while working two jobs. Personally, having a couple of my photos published and one selected for the Juried Art Exhibition in last year’s Piccolo Spoleto.

Name a creative work (book, movie, performance, etc.) you enjoyed recently and why? In the fall I attended two live performances of The Sound of Music. One was done locally through the Charleston Stage Company and was incredible! The other was the Best of Broadway’s version. I love attending live performances! I think art and humanities are incredibly valuable and I like supporting them, especially when they’re local!

What was your favorite TV show growing up? I’m an 80s kid, so pretty much all of the old school cartoons: Masters of the Universe, Care Bears, ThunderCats, Jem, Rainbow Brite, Jetsons, Flintstones, etc. I also loved watching Murder She Wrote with my granny and The Young and the Restless with my papa. Of course, can’t forget The Price is Right on sick days! IYKYK!

What’s next on your bucket list? I’d love to go to Morocco!

What is something your campus colleagues would be surprised to know about you? I was able to go up in an aerobatic plane one year before the Charleston Air Show. It was with the Northern Lights team, and it was such a cool experience. We flew upside down and did barrel rolls over the Charleston Harbor. Definitely a memorable experience!

What was your first job? It was either waiting tables or cashier at a grocery store. It was so long ago I don’t remember which one was first!

What’s your favorite Lowcountry restaurant? There are so many good ones, it’s hard to choose! So right now, I’d have to go with Pelato. A student highly recommended it, and it was fantastic!

Describe your perfect day: Sleep in on a nice, crisp fall day; lazily stroll to brunch; some sort of outdoor market or other outdoor activity; ending with a campfire and s’mores. Bonus points if there’s snow!

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