Jackie Gillespie

My name is Jackie Gillespie. I am a graduate of Norwich University class of 2018. My role here at Cantigny Park is Program's Coordinator. And my job is to create public programming for our audience to cater to our current audience, but also to grow our audience.

That means creating programming here inside the first division museum that is military based but it also means that I can create programming outside in our gardens and elsewhere all around the park. So it's a lot of research about different topics It's a lot of planning, organizing, contacting vendors, making relationships. It's a really fun environment. I really enjoy working at Cantigny Park.

Wheaton is so cute. There's a lot of cute coffee shops and book shops and fun things to do. It's a special place. It's a whole, like, this whole area. It's a hidden gem of Wheaton. That's what we hear a lot when people come to visit us here.

It was an easy choice choosing to get my degree in military history. Military history has been my passion ever since I was a little girl. Both of my grandfathers served in World War II. My grandfather who fought in the Pacific Theater actually took me and my cousins to see the places that he fought, which just brought it all to life. When I found that there was such a thing as a degree in military history, I knew that that was what I wanted to do.

My Norwich education taught me so many things that I have used. I absolutely loved the professors at Norwich University, I felt very supported the entire time I was going through school. I also really appreciated the flexibility of the degree to do it semi at my own pace. So it was really the perfect degree for a working adult.

And outside of my family. I love being outside. I like to go on walks every day and run a couple of times a week. I love to read and just sitting in the sun. I live a great life. I like my life.

The Norwich community is really everywhere, and people see me wearing the sweatshirt when I'm out, and they're like, 'Did you go there?' And I'm like, 'yeah, it was great.' I had a wonderful experience. It's a really cool close knit community.

And there are alumni events all across the country, here in Chicago as well. So it's easy to stay connected.
If I had to tell my younger self about what attending Norwich University would eventually mean to me. First of all, you're gonna make it. It's gonna be okay. You're going to love this experience. It might feel overwhelming sometimes, but you're gonna be supported all along the way, not only by your friends and family, but by your classmates and your professors.

If someone was interested in pursuing this line of work, I would say absolutely do it. It is so much fun. It is super rewarding. You do have to persevere, you will never regret it. You will have wonderful colleagues. You will have wonderful opportunities, and After leaving my Norwich family, I found a brand new family here at Cantigny Park.