Atrium employee finds family in students, coworkers

Vanessa Trosper can’t even eat lunch without students stopping to say hello, but that’s the way she likes it. Vanessa, a fourth-generation "lunch lady," currently tends to the cash register in the Atrium. She is known for her outgoing personality, positive attitude and jokes.

One of the students who stopped by, Sidney Staples, a senior telecommunications major said, “I love you; I have talked about you three times in the past two days.”

Vanessa was born and raised in Muncie and has been working at Ball State for 19 years. She has worked at different dining locations but she found her home in the Atrium.

“I like that all these people come to me everyday,” Vanessa said.

She especially enjoys the diversity in ways like getting to know international students.

“I like the contact. I get that here more than in the dorms,” she said.

Before Vanessa came to work at Ball State, she was a dry cleaner.

“I guess I wasn’t very ambitious,” she said with a laugh. “I really always wanted to be a housewife and a mother.”

In 1983, Vanessa did became a mother. She gave birth to her son, Tommy.

“He was awesome,” she said.

She said he loved karaoke and played soccer in high school.

At 21, Tommy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an inflammatory disease that affects the nervous system.

Every year, the Multiple Sclerosis Society holds a 5K run and walk called the Jeff Clevenger 5K. Vanessa and her son usually attended the walk, even when Tommy’s condition worsened.

“He always walked the first concourse, then I would push him around in a wheelchair for the rest of the walk.” she said. Last year, it was hosted on a Saturday.

The Wednesday after the 5K, Vanessa's family came looking for her at her workplace. They couldn’t find her. Vanessa was called into the office and told over a phone call that her son had died. Trosper collapsed.

“I felt devastated. I don’t wish that on anybody,” she said.

Vanessa's co-workers came to her aid. Courtney Anthony, who also works at the Atrium, followed Vanessa home to make sure she was all right. Another co-worker, Aly Austin, a senior psychology major, has worked with Vanessa the past three years. Austin decided to make a GoFundMe page on Vanessa's behalf.

“We were all just hurting so badly because she is so positive and uplifting and funny and to know such a good person had to go through something so terrible ... a lot of us at the Atrium were trying to find ways to do what we can to make her feel better,” Austin said.

The page, created on April 2, has currently raised more than $800 dollars for Vanessa. Another co-worker, Shannon Rhinehart, went to Vanessa's apartment to help her with household chores. Vanessa said she was a godsend.

Austin described Vanessa as a very strong person.

“She had such an overwhelming support system, so many friends and family members. Having that support really helped her bounce back,” said Austin.

Now, as Vanessa sits in the Atrium eating her lunch, students continue to stop to talk to her. Vanessa takes the time to talk to each of them; she said she feels like a mother figure sometimes.

“That’s the one thing about my son being gone that hurts [a lot]: ... knowing that I will never have any grandchildren. I guess I’ll have to adopt all these guys," Vanessa said.

In Oct. 2014, Vanessa created the Facebook page Ask the Lunch Lady – BSU to keep in contact with students after hours.

“I think part of the reason I started this Facebook page was to fill that void a little bit,” Vanessa said.

Vanessa said the page isn’t as interactive as she hoped, but she still gets likes. Right now the page has 229.

Vanessa loves her job and all the people she meets, saying she felt like she had "established" herself here. Even so, she’s still thought about leaving since her son passed away.

This April, Vanessa will be participating in the same 5K she used to walk with her son. She won’t be alone, though: a team of friends will accompany her. They’ll be wearing matching t-shirts in honor of Tommy. 

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