By 8:15 a.m. Students have made it out of bed, put on their heavy backpacks, and are walking through the Judd Hall doors.

As they open the doors, loud and energetic music floods their ears. As each reaches for their ID, a smiling face greets them and says to have a good day in a way that makes them believe it’s possible.

“I try to embrace each individual with a smile. I like people, I embrace people,” community service officer Cynthia Boykin said.

Whether it’s through music, a greeting, or simply a smile, community service officer Ms. Boykin’s goal in her 18 years working at Lab, after safety, has always been to make people feel welcome.

“The people make this school a very unique place,” Ms. Boykin said. “So sometimes when I see people — students — coming into the school either tired or stressed out, I want to do what I can to make them feel welcome.”

To accomplish this, Ms. Boykin often plays music at her Judd entrance desk in the mornings.

Many students who walk through the Judd hallway appreciate the music, especially when they are stressed.

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“It’s the perfect welcome to school early in the morning especially when you’re cold and tired and just don’t want to go to class,” sophomore Vaso Micic said.

Ms. Boykin has made a lot of good friends at Lab school, especially music teachers, who she used to work near when she was assigned to the former Belfield entrance desk.

“It’s been almost 20 years, and I feel like we grew up together,” middle school music teacher Cathy Janovjak said. “She means the world to me, and we are sisters — spiritual sisters. We just share such a deep friendship together.”

Although they were initially bonded by their proximity, a shared spirituality keeps their relationship strong.

Ms. Janovjak said, “When I met her I was in this personal crisis and I would see her at her desk. One day I saw her reading her Bible and I needed that.”

She said their friendship evolved in a very natural way, noting that Ms. Boykin was raised Christian and her religion has always been a big part of her identity.

“Growing up, my faith was a big part of my life,” Ms. Boykin said. “Whenever I’ve gone through tough times, turning to God and trusting Him has helped me work through it all.”

Ms. Boykin has used her spiritual wisdom not only to help herself but also to help her friends.

“I had just become a Christian, and when I saw her I was just reading the Bible for the first time — it was quite daunting,” Ms. Janovjak said. “She’s given me a lot of wisdom over the years like to trust God, that he was always there, just to stay encouraged.”

Together, they shop at malls, do Bible studies together and eat at restaurants with Ms. Boykin’s husband and friends.

“Something people may not know about her is that she is a very girly girl. She loves fashion, she loves to do her hair in different ways and she loves to dress up,” Ms. Janovjak said.

Before Ms. Boykin worked at Lab, she used to be a guard at the Westville Correctional Center in Indiana, where she lives.

“I came to Lab, and it was just so quiet there was hardly anything to do,” she said. “When I first started working here I was like, ‘I gotta find me another job. This is just too boring. I can’t do this — it’s just too boring.’ But the people made me want to stay and I think it was the right choice for me. It was friendlier security — which I like.”

Although Ms. Boykin said she has thoroughly enjoyed her time working at Lab, she is planning to retire soon.

“My next step is to retire in the next few years. I just want to be home. My husband is retired, he’s been retired for almost five years. I want to go home and spend some of that time with my husband.”

It’s clear that Ms. Boykin has made valuable contributions to the Lab community, beyond security, that will outlast her tenure here. No matter the time of day, or how a student is feeling, an interaction with Ms. Boykin can brighten their day.