Meet a Colleague: Suzannah Vess Suzannah Vess is a systems administrator in human resources.

W&L News Office
December 6, 2023

Q. How long have you worked at W&L?
I have been working at W&L for 18.5 years.

Q. Where is your favorite location on the W&L campus?
I love the entire campus from the back trails to the front lawn to downtown. When someone asks me if I want to go for a walk across campus anywhere, I am thrilled!

Q. Where did you grow up?
I was born in Toledo, Ohio but raised right here in Lexington.

Q. What advice do you have for students?
Life is short. If there’s something that you want to do or experience before you graduate, make the time to do it so that you don’t regret it later. It’s harder to make the time once your new life starts.

Q. What is the most adventurous thing that you have ever done?
I’m not a real adventurous person but I did run a race last year in full Wonder Woman attire.

Q. What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
I love to go trout fishing with my husband. I also love to go running and hiking on trails. Other than that, I enjoy relaxing at home in the evenings with my husband watching television.

Q. If you could live anywhere, where would you build your dream home?
My dream home is an ocean front home with a covered porch in Oak Island, North Carolina.

Q. Who most inspires you?
My mom and my brother. My mom because she is so strong willed no matter the obstacle facing her. My brother because he has a special gift of being able to talk/relate to any type of personality. They are both amazing!

Q. What music are you listening to these days?
I love listening to all types of 80s music. Very rarely will you ever find any other station on in my car or home besides the 80s station.

Q. What is your favorite film (movie) of all time?
“Forrest Gump” – it’s the perfect combination of comedy, drama, suspense and adventure.

Q. What is the website you visit most often and why?
Google – I am on Google numerous times a day looking up information about anything and everything. It’s the best way to find an answer to something quickly. In my last find, who knew that a convection oven and an air fryer were essentially the same thing??!!

Q. If they made a movie about your life, who would play you?
It’s not a movie, but my husband and I always laughed when we watched the sitcom “Man With a Plan” starring Matthew LeBlanc & Liza Snyder. We always felt like our relationship & family life were very similar to theirs, so I guess that’s who would play us. Sadly, the show was cancelled in 2020.

Q. Which historical figure do you most identify with and why?
This was a hard one. Maybe Elvis Presley? I admire how he created his own style of music & dance no matter what everyone else thought at that time and this all still lives with us today. It also makes me feel like my crazy erratic dancing isn’t so bad after all.

Q. If you could have coffee with one person, who would it be and why?
I don’t like coffee, but I would love to see my grandfather again on my mom’s side. I want him to tell me about his life in Yugoslavia and how he immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. He passed away when I was very young.

Q. What is your desert island food?
Diet Coke and Cool Ranch Doritos are my favorite foods anytime, anywhere!

Q. Tell us something most people don’t know about you.
I met my biological father & half-brother through ancestry.com.

Q. What is your secret talent?
I can sing “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” in a munchkin voice just like on the Wizard of Oz.