Wood’s work and passion for higher education can be best seen in a story she recalled about meeting a former student. While having lunch with a colleague at a café in Kansas City, a young woman, a few tables away, came up to her. Her name did not come to Wood’s mind, but she recognized her face. It turned out that she was a former student, who exclaimed how Wood’s class changed her life. While in school she thought she wanted to be a paralegal, but after taking Wood’s class social justice issues, and being encouraged to consider becoming an attorney, she decided to follow that advice. She told Wood about all the wonderful things she had been doing and how appreciative she was for Wood’s influence in her life.
“Those are the moments that you tuck away and hold on to in your heart.”
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Wood explained that providing stability and structure helps others feel comfortable with what they are doing and that the college is there for them.
Aside from her administrative duties, Wood loves to read, especially detective fiction. Some of her favorite novels include “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” by Betty Smith which is a story about a girl’s journey growing up as an immigrant in Brooklyn, Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” which follows the life of a high-society woman after WWI and “How Green was my Valley,” in which Richard Llewellyn tells a story about a mining family in