Two Lyndon State College students are curious about what a public college president’s general schedule looks like so they interviewed Lyndon State College’s president, Joe Bertolino, last Tuesday.

Being a college president is not an easy job, which needs to put lots of effort and energy to manage the entire school and he even plays an important role to push the school into a brighter future. Dr. Joe Bertolino began his career as president of Lyndon State College in July 2012, and this year is his second year at Lyndon State.

“I often compare the second year as students’ sophomore year in college,” Bertolino said when he was sitting on a comfortable couch and being interviewed. “People are used to seeing me. ‘It’s Joe.’”

When the freshness wears off, everything is not as exciting as the first year; Bertolino’s schedule stays the same.

“I don’t control my schedule and I can’t make appointments. Darcie does not allow me to do that,” Bertolino said. Darcie Miles is the executive assistant to the president.

Generally, Bertolino’s daily schedule consists of lots of back-to-back meetings. He said that he is not a morning person, and most of his work starts at 9 a.m. When he got this interview on Tuesday afternoon, he has various meetings scheduled before and after it, and then he has personal training at 6 p.m.

“This is actually a light day because I don’t have anything after 7 o’clock,” Bertolino said cheerfully.

Although Bertolino has lots of meetings every day, if the time permits, Bertolino prefers walking around the campus, attending students’ events and saying hi to different folks, offices, and faculties. If he is off campus, he will attend plenty of events, meetings, and speaking to some groups.

Bertolino is usually invited to community events and fundraisers to talk about the college. Mostly, he would talk about the community, the programs the college offers, and why he thinks that Lyndon is a special place.

Once the job gets stressful, he will stop what he is doing and then take a walk around the campus.

 “This is a good reminder to me why I am doing what I am doing,” Bertolino said. “Students sometimes don’t realize it, but they actually give me lots of encouragement.”

Bertolino mentioned that he held a hundred events at the President’s House, such as student dinners, dinners with athletes, student leaders and other events last year. For instance, every senior who is going to graduate this December and next year will be invited to the President’s House for dinner before the end of the academic year.

Bertolino said, “I would say being a president of a college is a life-style.”