Many students and new faculty have some degree of nervousness as they enter the first day of school. However, that was not the case for Monique Brickham, the new assistant professor of art at Lakeland University.

Brickham said, “My first day was awesome. I wasn’t nervous at all. I was so excited to get into the classroom and meet all my students being nervous didn’t even register. It went by so fast, and every day since then has flown by, too.”

Brickham is one of four new faculty members who joined Lakeland’s community over the summer. She grew up in Appleton, Wis., where her family still lives, obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and her master of fine arts degree from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

To be successful throughout her years of schooling, she devised a system. Brickham said, “I’m a list-maker, so to stay on top of everything I would make detailed lists of everything I needed to accomplish in order of priority, and then I would take care of them one at a time. I still do that to this day.”

She brings with her much experience and various accomplishments in her field of expertise. Brickham passed the Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign exam in Sept. of 2012, making her one of only four people in Wisconsin with that certification. “I’m extremely proud of that,” said Brickham.

She is also excited to be at Lakeland. Brickham said, “I’ve only been here a few weeks, but so far I love the warm welcome I’ve received from everyone. Lakeland feels like a close-knit community, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Brickham described her teaching style as “casual” because she sees herself more as a facilitator rather than a lecturer.

She explained, “I try to have conversations and discussions, and come up with activities that will then create the environment where knowledge is discovered and practiced by my students, rather than me telling them what they need to know. I like to be at the same level as my students because I learn so much from them as well.”

In her free-time, Brickham likes to go on adventures with her husband, Brian, and her two stepchildren, Hailey, 14, and Quenten, 11.