Michelle Blank ’92, the senior director of the academic success center, began learning to read at three years old by picking up newspapers she could find around the family house in Richmond, Indiana. 

Through her experience of seeing students with different learning abilities succeed in their own journeys, Blank has made it her mission to help all people reach their full potential in success.

In her young life, Blank stayed with her father in her aunt and uncle’s house, who they at times lived with. Blank’s aunt and uncle had a passion for learning. 

“There were always books around and they would read to me and with me and I would read to them and play trivia games and anything that was going to enhance my brain,” she said. Blank’s aunt also had her own prior experiences with her learning journey, as she left high school prior to graduating, but returned and earned her GED in later years. 

Blank herself coasted through schooling well after having such exposure and attention academically from her aunt and uncle. As she got older, she was rewarded for her good grades with money, a quarter here and there as “little tokens” from her parents, and aunt and uncle. Blank continued this learning lifestyle as she had a great sense of competition, “I had to win.”

Blank transferred from Manchester University to Goshen College for her sophomore year. She graduated from GC in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in English education, making her a first-generation student for her family. 

While Blank has found her niche in GC’s ASC now, feeling as though she belongs was not always something experienced. Blank had consistently been successful in school, but after arriving at GC realized “everyone was good at school, and they knew lots of things,” she said. 

Blank also faced the concern that she may not be accepted by others in the community at GC. “I wasn’t a Mennonite, I didn’t know anything about that part of Goshen College. And I knew eventually they were going to figure out I didn’t belong and throw me out,” she feared. 

But through the years she completed at GC, Blank had certain professors who assisted her integration. She expressed one in particular, John Fisher, who took her under his wing. Without those professors like Fisher, Blank wonders what her journey may have looked like. “Who knows? I may have run away [from GC].”

Blank pursued a career in teaching — her role she claimed was her thing “at heart.” Blank has experience in teaching every grade from kindergarten to graduate school, but also homeschooled her four children at various times throughout their childhood. 

Blank’s eldest daughter, Jordan Blank currently works at GC as a Resident Director and teaches Academic Voice in the Fall, she oversees the Kratz, Miller and Octavio Romero residence buildings. 

Her oldest son Ethan, who graduated from Trine University with a degree in criminal justice, has now begun his career in teaching. 

Blank’s youngest daughter Lauren, attended GC for some time before deciding to pursue the route of dental hygiene. 

Blank’s youngest son, Haydan is currently a first-year accounting major at GC. 

After years in teaching, Blank got a degree in librarianship, where she began at Defiance College, Ohio. She then transitioned from Defiance to Trine University for some time, before a position opened up at GC in 2021 in professional development with the faculty and Moodle support. Blank took up the position because “coming back here was intriguing to me. It was something I thought I would enjoy and have very much,” she said. 

During the time of working in this position, Blank became intrigued in the academic success side of things after seeing Jody Saylor working on a mentoring program. When the previous director of the ASC took a step back for retirement, Blank moved into the position. 

As senior director of the ASC, Blank’s roles range from weekly meetings with approximately 25 students, sporadic meetings as needed, overseeing faculty in the ASC, meeting with administrations and more. Blank attributes her passion in the ASC to her love of others succeeding, “Every time someone succeeds, that is so amazing. And I have achieved my success” she said. 

Alongside her in the ASC works Jesse Loewen, associate director of academic success, and Isacc Hernandez, academic coach and advisor. Loewen described Blank as “Mighty or resilient” while Hernandez summed up Blank’s personality and work-ethic in the word: “Determined.” Blank also coordinates student workers at the front desk of the ASC, one of them being Blanka Bodo, a junior psychology major.

Blank’s positive attitude can be seen each day in the ASC. “She’s always smiling, always says hi and listens whenever I have an issue or just a simple question” Bodo said.

A moment in particular that inspired Blank was when her son graduated from college. While she expressed immense pride in her son, she also recognized, “He should have made it across that stage. I mean, I have a doctoral degree, his dad has a doctoral degree,” but what also filled her with pride was seeing “[in that same class], I watched [another] young man cross the stage who I had the privilege of teaching and working with when he got there, and he didn’t have any of those advantages,” she said. 

Blank stated that while this was an incredible moment for both young men, for the second “getting his degree was life-changing,” as he came from “nothing. He didn’t even have a bed at his house,” she said.

When Blank is not working at the ASC, she loves to kayak or paddleboard, hike and spend time in nature with her husband Jeremy Rentz, who is an engineering professor at Trine University. She also enjoys completing jigsaw puzzles “on a little teeny lake in a little teeny house” that she resides in.