Good mornings: Cynthia Boykin

At 7:53 on a bitter-cold Thursday morning, students hastily walk through the large wooden doors into Judd Hall. They pause only for a second to tap their ID card and leave themselves just enough time to rush to their first period class.

With each tap, a Lab student’s face pops up on the smaller of the two monitors, which face inwards to the desk. 

And, like a chain reaction, a warm welcome and energetic smile comes from behind the desk. Even the plexiglass separation cannot hide the enthusiasm of security officer Cynthia Boykin. 

To them, this swipe is just part of coming into school. For her, each swipe brings a reminder of why she’s here. 

But, it wasn’t always like this. 

20 years ago, when Ms. Boykin first walked through the doors of Belfield Hall, there was no tapping of IDs or watching faces popping up on monitors. 

There was just a sheet of paper and a pencil. Sign your name, write where you’re going in the building and you’re gone.

With only two other security officers on staff and instructions to stay behind the desk, “I was so bored,” Ms. Boykin said.

These days were mundane, and she contemplated quitting.

Yet she needed a job. So, she stayed: got hired as a security officer for Summer Lab, chaperoned some U-High dances and saw students grow from nursery to graduation.

Still, as she greets students through the years, she knows, had it not been for technology advancements, things may have been much less energetic.

So, knowing what bitter-cold Thursday mornings were like 20 years ago, Ms. Boykin now cherishes the moment a student hastily walks through the doors, pauses to take out his ID, taps it and shoves it back into the side pocket of his backpack.

Energetically, she concludes his daily entering-school routine with her own routine greeting: “Good morning.”