Susan Manchester celebrated her 20th year with Union this September. As the associate director and nurse practitioner at Wicker Wellness Center, she helps students achieve their health and wellness goals.
“There’s never a dull moment as you never know who is going to walk through the door. Every day, week, month and trimester offer something new and exciting,” she said.
Outside of work, Manchester enjoys teaching yoga, hiking, kayaking, gardening in her backyard and volunteering at Schenectady Urban Farms.
“Working in the soil and bringing home my fresh harvest allows me to enjoy cooking locally-grown produce at home,” Manchester said. “My favorite meals to prepare are Asian-inspired; a couple of my best ones are General Tso’s broccoli and mapo tofu.”
Manchester also enjoys live music and traveling.
Susan Manchester, the associate director and nurse practitioner at Wicker Wellness Center
Her most recent concert this summer was The Breeders at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City. One of her best live concert years was 2024, because she was able to catch Cake at Ommegang, GroupLove at Terminal 5. She rounded out that year at MSG seeing Vampire Weekend.
As far as travel, Morocco and Istanbul are on Manchester’s bucket list.
“This summer, I visited the Buffalo area with my son and his family, and we enjoyed the waterfront along the Niagara River, and Niagara Falls, Ontario. We sampled some of Buffalo’s best chicken wings, too,” she said. “One of my craziest travel memories was trying fried crickets at the night market in Chiang Mai in Thailand. Anything fried tastes good, right?”
Manchester lives in Niskayuna and is a mom of three engineers, as well as a grandma to two grandkids. She’s also a proud cat mom of a grey tiger named Nala.
FIRST APP YOU LOOK AT IN THE MORNING: Insight Timer. Before any noise or news of the world; even before coffee, daily meditation helps me stay grounded.
WHAT ARE YOU READING? The Calamity Club by Kathyrn Stockett, whose first novel, The Help, came out 17 years ago. It’s fascinating to read about resilient women from a historical perspective.
WHAT ARE YOU STREAMING? I just finished the fifth and final season of “The Bear” on Hulu. I love the intensity of the restaurant industry; especially the back of the house. It brings me back to my high school days working in food service. I worked in the kitchen as a line girl while my older sister was in the front of the house working as a waitress. My parents received first-class service when they came in for a meal since my sister would put in the ticket and let me know this was for our mom and dad.
BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU RECEIVED: “Eighty percent of life is showing up,” as the saying goes, and it sets me up for success.
ONE SKILL YOU WISH YOU HAD: Fluency in another language. I took four years of French in high school and am very comfortable with fromage, gateau and chocolat. But I’d love to become fluent in Spanish. I use DuoLingo, but only haphazardly in my free time. It being September, maybe I’ll get into a new routine of logging my lessons daily.
THREE DINNER PARTY GUESTS (living or deceased): Maya Angelou, Winnie Mandela and Madeline Albright. I chose them because they represent distinct pillars of 20th-century leadership—diplomacy, revolutionary struggle and artistic truth—each proving how individual courage can reshape global history. Having all three at the table would mean diving into deep, unfiltered conversations about leadership, sacrifice and resilience.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT YOU: I did my first tandem skydiving adventure back in 2014 in Snohomish, Wash. I paid extra for the additional free fall. Trust me, it’s worth it!
FAVORITE UNION MEMORY/EXPERIENCE: Attending Maya Angelou’s talk in Memorial Chapel back in 2007. What an unforgettable evening.
I USE AI FOR …: Writing independent medical opinions.
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF? Don’t hold back; just say “yes!”