Tuesday Dodson

Personal Essay

My inspiration for working with NASA came from my oldest sister. She was a Program Analyst for the Space Station and told me of an opportunity with the Temporary Assignment Group known as the TAG program. I was young, unemployed and needed work. So, I decided to take the challenge — when I started at NASA Headquarters (HQ) I had no idea that I would be working with some of the most talented, intelligent and giving people in the federal government. I came to HQ during the Challenger era and quickly became a part of the NASA family. Yes, I was here when the tragedy happened and that incident helped to shape me into a proud and dedicated employee who truly understands that NASA is a place where I could make a difference.

As a part of the NASA family you learn that, no matter your role in the Agency, your talents and skills can and will have an impact on the overall mission. Whenever I would tell someone I work for NASA; one of the first thing’s they would ask is are you an astronaut? It’s very funny trying to explain to people that there are tons of other professionals who help make NASA the great agency that it is. Although they would much rather hear about all the neat space stuff, somehow I still manage to keep their interest by explaining what it is about NASA that I love the most. I love NASA for the innovation, and dedication the Agency has to science and research. I love NASA for connecting HR Specialists with astronauts, and engineers with graduate students, and for sending future astronaut hopefuls to summer camp where they can learn all about our earth and beyond. NASA is the agency that cares for all humankind.
2015 marks my 30th year with NASA. I started my career as an administrative assistant in the Personnel Analysis and Evaluations Division, working with a team of Program Analysts responsible for reporting workforce statistics to OPM on NASA’s civil service workforce. My time was equally divided between managing the office and learning the data systems used to collect and report information that told the story about NASA’s civil service workforce. I became very interested in the various types of employees we have here at NASA and how they came to be part of the agency. Daily I would get inquiries from all over the country – college students who needed information for research papers or journalists who wanted to know how many scientists and engineers NASA employs and about their educational backgrounds. You would be surprised to know the many types of disciplines covered here at NASA. I must say that after all these years I continue to feel that what we do here at NASA is very cool and always sparks interest in the young as well as the old.

On my 1st day I was assigned to the Personnel Analysis & Evaluation Division, which was the organization that collected and recorded all the statistical information on the civil service workforce. I remember meeting the staff I was going to support and being extremely scared because I had not worked in an office setting before where I was going to be the “go to” person. I sat down and looked around and was like ok here it goes – I got my 1st assignment which was to type some kind of report on an old IBM typewriter. I knew I had to make a good impression because not only did I need the job, but my sister’s representation was on the line. I started as a clerk typist and progressed into a secretary and from that role I started training part-time under the tutelage of Mary Kay Hautier & Emma Agee. Two ladies who ensured I knew the NASA way – they were very proud of the work that division produced and made sure I was going to do the same thing. I remember learning all about coding personnel records and reporting that data to the OPM. My immediate supervisor (Dave Thompson) took me under his wing as well. He was a stern military pilot, who brought his talent and love for aeronautics to NASA and loved every minute of being with the agency.

As my career continued I became the focal point of contact for reporting workforce statistics across the agency and providing vital information for a number of workforce studies and program development projects. I was responsible for keeping reports about our “aging” workforce up-to-date and accurate. In 2010, I decided to make a change in the work I was doing with the agency, and turned my interests to providing customer service within information technology. I accepted an Information Technology (IT) Specialist position with the HQ Information Technology and Communications Div (ITCD) serving as a Customer Service Manager. In this role I also act as the Subject Matter Expert for the Enterprise Service Desk (ESD), which is an integral aspect of the newly adopted Infrastructure Integration Program (I3P) — the past 2 ½ years have been very interesting to say the least. As an IT Customer Service Manager I am responsible for ensuring HQ customers receive the best customer service possible when it comes to information technology services such as ordering computer seats and updating software. I work closely with my counterparts at the NASA Shared Services Center and other representatives across the agency in order to accomplish this.

As a native Washingtonian, I know that a career with the Federal Government is an ideal choice for many; however, a career with NASA is more than ideal it is exceptional.

I was raised east of the river in North East, Washington DC, the youngest of six children. I attended DC Public Schools as a child and went on to earn my Associates degree at Prince George’s Community College and Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology at the University of Maryland University College with help from NASA. NASA has helped me to not only recognize my fullest potential, but become the best me possible and I thank NASA for allowing me to grow into the woman of NASA that I am today.

I would be remiss if I did not at least mention the origin of my name – “Tuesday”. I was born on my mother’s birthday (Dec 5th), which also happened to be a “Tuesday”. As the story goes, there were no “girl” names picked out for me because my parents were trying to have that perfect split of three girls and three boys, when I did not turn out to be a boy they were not prepared with a girl name . At first, they were going to just give me the boy’s name they had agreed on, which was “Lincoln” but, my oldest sister convinced them that that would not be “cool” for a little girl, so she was able to get them to settle on the day I was born until they thought of something else. Well, I guess they never thought of anything else, hence the name “Tuesday”.

Biography

Tuesday Dodson currently serves as a Customer Engagement Manager in the Headquarters Information Technology and Communications Division (ITCD). In this role she provides IT customer service for the Headquarters end-user community. Starting her career at NASA HQ in the Personnel Analysis and Evaluation Division, as a temporary secretary before becoming a permanent member of the team after only eight months. After some time, the role evolved into a Program Analyst position where she was responsible for providing demographic information about NASA’s civil service workforce, which proved to be very interesting. One instance that stands out in Mrs. Dodson’s career is the time she was told by her then manager (Stan Kask) that anyone working for him needed to have a college degree for him to feel comfortable promoting them. Although that wasn’t a qualification that Tuesday had at the time, it didn’t stop her from reaching that goal. She sought out the Continuing Education Program that NASA HQ offered and took evening and weekend classes until she completed her bachelors of science degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland University College. Tuesday is a native Washingtonian and was educated in the District of Columbia Public School System. She’s the youngest of six children, but was the first sibling to complete her college degree. She is married to her soulmate, Gregory L. Dodson, Sr. and the proud mother of an adult set of twins (Gerelle and Gregory) and a beautiful granddaughter (Zuri). Tuesday enjoys cooking for her family and watching college basketball – especially her beloved Maryland Terrapins.