Tammy Banfield joined the department asfront office receptionist and undergraduate program support staff team memberin Fall 2019. She was coming from a smaller college campus andshe said the idea of working at UW-Madison, a larger school, was intriguing. She felt a larger campus would provide more opportunities. Tammy mentions that her background in computer programming, having earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Platteville, has been helpful in managing the timetable of classes and student registration. She enjoys building and creating the timetable, but is also interested in knowing how it works. Prior to joining the department, Tammy confesses she knew little about the discipline of philosophy. After joining our department, she is amazed at how the discipline touches on other disciplines, challenging students to look at things from other angles, and ethically. Tammy and her family live in Mt. Horeb where she’s fondly referred to as a “soccer mom”–since her three children have all been involved in the sport. She chuckles when she says she lives in Mt. Horeb, because when she was in high school in Cuba City, Mt. Horeb was a rival school which they fondly referred to as “Mount Horrible.” Now, she shares that they intentionally chose Mt. Horeb to raise a family. When they are not on the go to a soccer game or two, her family loves to ride bikes on the trail. The family also enjoys relaxing on the water.Tammy grew up water skiing, her family loved boating and the water. In fact, one day in her earlier college years, she wanted to go skiing and need someone to go with, so she called her friend, Kurt, and asked him to go along. One thing led to another and today she is still skiing with Kurt, but now their three children come along. In 2021, Kurt and Tammy will join the “empty nester” club as they have two children graduating next Spring, Tyler from high school and Ashley from UW-LaCrosse. Their oldest daughter, Nicole, is currently studying to be an optometrist in Arizona.