Suja Karuppaswamy – July 2018 Volunteer

JULY VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT… GET TO KNOW A VOLUNTEER … Suja Karuppaswamy

 

Suja’s words of wisdom on life: I believe we become what we think. So strive to think positive whatever life hands to you, be your own best friend, be good to people, and always be grateful for everything you have.

I started volunteering for Faith in Action in late 2010.  I made reassurance calls and helped people with shopping.

I had just moved back to Bloomington, IL, and restarted my life as a single woman after my divorce. My late sister who was a family counselor and a professor suggested I take up gardening and do some volunteering that will make me happy and get me through the healing process.

I signed up for a Master Gardener class at U of I Extension, and also did some internet searches for volunteering opportunities. I came upon Faith in Action and signed up for the orientation.

From what I learned during that orientation, I decided I wanted to give this a try since I have always had good rapport with seniors and this just felt right. In addition, I also had my Fridays off, and once a week for few hours was doable.

I was born and raised in Chennai, India. I came to the USA in 1994 to Springfield IL to study. Since 1996, I have lived in some cities around Central Illinois – Peoria, Morton, and Bloomington. Now I live in Normal, IL.

I went to Chennai India (Masters in Human Development); University of Illinois at Springfield (Masters in Management Information Systems)

I have worked at Caterpillar, Barnes and Noble, and State Farm Insurance. I am in IT, and I was a COBOL Programmer. Recently I have switched to doing Access management for my area at work.

Hobbies/ past times/ passions.. Gardening, hiking, traveling, and movies. I love growing vegetables. I also enjoy biking and camping now and then.

My passions seem to vary based on what challenges I am facing in life. For example, gardening becomes foremost in my mind when I am down in the dumps and need to vent all my energy into digging and designing and growing. Also turns out to be a great workout!

When I was overwhelmed with grief when I lost my sister, I decided to do some travelling to get away from anything that reminded me of her. It started with some botanical gardens and hiking with groups of strangers, then I started looking at international places that were not very common for my friends to go.

Travelling…

It was always my sister’s desire to get me a tour package for my 50th birthday to wherever I wanted to go. So, when I got closer to 50, I chose a 10day Iceland tour with a group of people from Chicago whom I had never met. Since then, I have been hooked on travelling but it is getting to be a pretty expensive passion, so I need to back out a bit.

Family…

I am the 3rd child of 5 for my parents. I lost my oldest sister 5 years ago, and my dad 3 weeks ago. I am divorced with no children of my own. I have 4 nephews and 2 nieces. My dogs have always been my children. Currently my 4 year old is an Alaskan Spitz. Her name is Kalyani and she makes everything in my life worth it.