From Homecoming activities to Finals Madness, she has run it all.

Friday, Julie Blackford will end her career at Missouri Southern.

After about four years as director of Student Activities and most recently counselor for the student support center, Blackford will be heading to Springfield.

“People assume whenever you leave a job it’s to start a family,” Blackford said.

A job advancement opportunity for her husband led Blackford to say goodbye to the institution she received her education from.

“I’m excited to see what this new opportunity holds,” Blackford said.

In Springfield, Blackford will not only get a chance to be closer to her family, but she will work as a counselor at a private clinic.

“It’s a good opportunity for our family,” Blackford said.

Blackford calls the move “bittersweet.”

“I’m going to miss the people I work with and I’m going to miss the students,” Blackford said. “I’ve made some really good friends here.”

Blackford said a major accomplishment she is proud of during her time at Southern giving the Campus Activities Board a “facelift.”

“I think we really put a good image on CAB,” Blackford said. “We stepped it up with the T-shirts and the picnics.”

A major event under Blackford’s belt was also the Napoleon Dynamite appearance.

Holley Goodnight, coordinator of new student programs, said she was saddened by the announcement of Blackford’s departure of Southern.

“I was devastated; I was so upset,” Goodnight said. “I said, ‘No, you can’t go.'”

She calls her relationship with Blackford “a perfect fit.”

“We basically finish each other’s sentences,” Goodnight said. “She was just somebody you could work with and she was also a friend.”

Goodnight also said Blackford had a way of connecting with students.

“Julie had a way of taking a student and having them look into themselves and find what they are really made of,” Goodnight said.

Julie’s way with students may have come from some of her great influences while she was a student herself.

“Mr. Rogers, when I was a freshman here he gave me confidence,” Blackford said. “He said, ‘Julie, you can do whatever and I never would have thought that.'”

She said Goodnight and Kelly Wilson, director of the student support center, were also some of her greatest mentors during her time at Southern.

For others, Blackford’s presence left good impressions.

“She was a breathe of fresh air,” said Melanie Epperson, student activities secretary.

“She was very outgoing, very friendly, and always has a smile on her face.”

Blackford said she would advise anyone graduating from Southern to look at employment at the University as a beneficial option.

“I feel Southern’s the cream of the crop,” Blackford said.