Power of Personal: Personified

By John Helsley

Marissa McIntyre thought she knew what she wanted to do with her career.

Architecture.

Scratch that.

Actually, economics.

Scratch that.

McIntyre took a run at both as an Oklahoma State University student, yet eventually spun her own adventurous academic journey into a fruitful and rewarding career mapping out others’ journeys, as director of Student Academic Services for the Spears School of Business.

“I think the favorite part of my job every day is getting to work with students,” says McIntyre, a guiding force within the Business Student Success Center.

McIntyre has lived the winding road so often traveled by students, and can relate. And that’s her strength — relating; and aiding students who need direction, or redirection, or encouragement or just a friendly face and welcoming landing spot to simply sit and chat.

Students regularly sing her praises.

“Even though I’ve been here just a couple of years, she’s been great at finding out what I wanted to do with my career. She really takes her job seriously and really cares to see me succeed.”

“My favorite thing about her is she is so nice. She’s so polite. She’s super kind. She’s super respectful as well. She’s not only an adviser, but I could also see her as a friend. She’s a go-to person when you’re going downhill. She’s always there to lift you up with inspiring words. Even if you’re going good, she can get you going better.”

“She’s a rock star.”

“I come to her with a problem or a goal, and she helps me find a solution that best fits me as a person. She really tailors my university experience to those needs. Anytime I need to talk to her, stop in and say, ‘What’s up?’ she’s always more than willing to help me with any problem I have.”

“She’s amazing. She’s always willing to help. I’m so, so thankful to have her.”

McIntyre holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in student development, each from OSU. In the end, it was the experiences from her journey that uncovered what would become her passion.

“Throughout my college career and undergrad, I worked over in the College of Education in one of their outreach offices,” McIntyre says. “I was kind of a front-desk person, but I had a lot of student interactions with that. Junior and senior year, when I came around to doing an internship and job searching, I was really dreading every single thing I was qualified for.

“I didn’t do much research about the potential career opportunities that I was qualified for with my undergraduate degree,” McIntyre says. “Looking back, it’s something I wish I would have put more thought into; really finding out what I was passionate about and how to translate that into a career path. Fortunately, I worked my way into a graduate program that helped me merge my two worlds together.”

Through conversations with others, McIntyre came to a moment of clarity: simply put, she loved college. Being there. Working there. Growing relationships there.

“I love working at a university. And I love that it stimulates learning,” she says. “That was something I really wanted to be involved in.”

Even much of McIntyre’s spare time is devoted to serving students. She works with the Business Student Council and the Spears Scholar Leaders.

She’s made several study abroad trips as a chaperone.

Along with seeing the world — so far her favorite trip was Japan, with Chile and Argentina coming up next on her travel itinerary — McIntyre enjoys the opportunity to relax alongside the students.

“I almost look at it as being the big sister,” she says, “making sure everyone’s where they need to be, making sure nobody gets lost. I think one of the big things is getting to see students experience new cultures and new people and new activities that they’ve never done before.”

She’s a big sister in reality as well, with a younger sister and brother, all part of a tight-knit family from Edmond. An Edmond North grad, McIntyre played volleyball in high school and on club teams, finding value in the competition.

“I think the competitiveness really instilled drive in me,” she says.

Her parents fueled it all.

“My driving force and inspiration are my parents,” McIntyre says. “While they’re both different, they have great qualities that I admire.”

McIntyre does enjoy some down time. That usually means hanging with her terrier mix Fitz strolling Boomer Lake or the dog park. She’s been sharpening her culinary skills, prompted by trying Plated, a subscription service that delivers food and recipes to the front door.

“I really love to grill, and also make pastas,” she says. “Those are the two big things right now. I’m branching out slowly with my food.”

Spears Business, however, always has her heart, because, you know, it’s personal.

“One of the things that has kept me here so long is the people,” McIntyre says. “I really think everybody in the Spears School of Business embodies our ‘Power of Personal’ motto. You can see that through interactions every day, whether that’s walking up and down the halls when you say, ‘Hi,’ to somebody; or check in on their holidays or how their families are doing.

“I think that’s something we do really well. We care about each other.”