Profile

English Department stalwart passes 30-year mark on campus

Nik Thomson in her office. Photo by Wayne Eyre

By Wayne Eyre

"When I hear someone answer the phone with something like: ‘Good morning. This is the College of blank. This is blank speaking. How may I direct your call?,’ I’m already pissed off."

That’s Nik Thomson talking. She’s been with the Department of English for more than 30 years – first as a secretary, now as a much-respected administrative assistant.

Her telephone greeting (for internal calls) is a terse, "English."

Her comment about lengthy phone greetings may suggest that she’s either a fearsome colonel or a humorless prune. But as anyone who knows her will attest, she’s far from either of these.

Her impatience with ersatz telephone etiquette stems from her no-nonsense approach to conducting business. But she also has a ready laugh and a warmth that’s infectious.

Born and raised in North Battleford of Norwegian and Scottish parents, she first came to the U of S as a student, in 1963. She took classes in Arts and Science for two years, dropped out to take a secretarial course, then took off for London, England – alone – to find a job.

She not only found a secretarial job with New Scotland Yard but also met her future husband there – a police sergeant, Gil Thomson, with whom she locked eyes one day as he was exiting the building. (She later inquired about him and dating ensued, as eventually did their marriage, in North Battleford, in May of 1970.)

Nik relates that her first domicile in west London, in 1966, was a cold, drafty, one-room flat that she shared with a mouse or two. After three months, she sublet a mansion flat rented by two eccentric landladies from New Zealand, Judy and Annie.

"Although not wealthy, they were genteel and taught me a lot of culinary skills and social graces. I have fond memories of them."

After their marriage, Gil and Nik took up residence in Saskatoon. He got a job with the Saskatchewan Ombudsman Office; and she, with the Department of English.

In 1983, 13 years after joining the Department, Nik was made its administrative assistant. A year later, her husband was diagnosed with cancer and given only a short time to live. As it turned out, he fought the disease for seven years, finally succumbing in 1991, at the age of 53.

Thus, Nik was left with their three children – Scott, Nikoline, and Zak, who are now 29, 24, and 20, respectively. (Scott is now living and working in London, England. Nikoline, who honored in anthropology at the U of S, is now studying English here. And Zak is in the second year of a government carpentry program.)

During the first 10 years of her marriage – as she worked at the Department and had three children – Nik decided to complete the BA degree she had begun in the ’60s.

Nervous whether she could succeed, she first audited a Norwegian class. The following year, emboldened, she enrolled in a class as a degree-track student. Then, the following year, she took two classes.

In 1983, having taken her final English class in Intersession (so as to dispel any suspicions that her Departmental position might give her an advantage), she completed her degree – with an A average.

"I always tell people that it took me 20 years to finish my three-year degree. And I take exception when people make snide comments about a mere three-year BA, because it means a lot to me that I did it while raising three children and working full time."

As admin assistant, Nik handles the Department’s entire budget, does all its time-tabling, sits on five Departmental committees, and spends much of her time counselling students – the part of the job she most enjoys.

"I love the counselling component of the job, and it’s what I do best. I’m available any working day of the year and often see a dozen or so students a day."

She tells how she’ll occasionally write students a letter, noting, say, that they had a bad year and inviting them to come see her. Or she might give someone a call to encourage him or her to finish the degree that they’re close to completing.

Recently, she says, she was touched by a student (whom she had contacted to ask why he hadn’t registered in a seminar) who said to her on leaving her office, "You know, it’s nice to know that someone’s looking out for me."

The fact that she has always enjoyed reading – "all kinds of novels, short stories, murder mysteries (though I’m fussier with them because I know for myself how crime detection works)" – has helped her talk the talk with Departmental members.

She says she has also read extensively on childbirth and midwifery, something she’s been interested in since her teens. She was with the Saskatoon Childbirth Education Association for 10 years; and in 1995, began her own fee-for-service business under the name Stork Prenatal.

"I’ve always believed that mothers-to-be have more power than they know, but often give it away [to the professionals] with a kind of here-I-am-what-do-you-want-to-do-with-me attitude. It’s important to work with the medical team, but not to forget the empowerment that motherhood bestows or to abdicate all your rights as a laboring mother."

Nik says she’s not sure when she’ll retire – "I’ll know when I’m ready, and I don’t want to leave wearing white shoes."

Retirement will probably entail summertimes at the family’s cabin at Jackfish Lake and occasional visits to England, where Nik still visits with Gil’s twin brother George and his wife – both of whom are coming to Saskatoon next summer.

In the meantime she says she still enjoys coming to work and meeting what the day brings.