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After several years of being unsatisfied with her professions, Kienbaum decided to go back to school, with the support and encouragement of her church and family members. Divorced, working full-time, and raising two boys, Kienbaum also studied part-time at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, eventually earning a degree in Business Administration with a management emphasis. “To be honest, I didn’t really have a set goal [at that point],” she said. “I just sort of went with the flow.”

Realizing that his mother was unhappy, Kienbaum’s youngest son suggested that she move to Minnesota.
A student at St. Olaf College at the time, he believed there to be more opportunities in a wider variety of fields. At his encouragement, Kienbaum left Wisconsin, settled in St. Paul, and began job hunting.

“I had spent all of my working life up until [that point] in the corporate world, and I decided I wanted to move into academia,” she said. After responding to an employment advertisement, Kienbaum was hired as the university’s cashier and became a part of the Hamline community.

The first responsibility of her position is ensuring the payment of all tuition. In addition, she oversees the deposits from all of the organizations and offices on campus, and she distributes work-study checks as well. According to Kienbaum, however, there is more to her position than finances. She enjoys the contact with students the most, and makes an extra effort to help students realize that they are “more than just a
number.”

After six years, Kienbaum’s position apparently hasn’t lost its luster. “I like the people I work with, which makes a world of a difference,” she said. “It’s one of those things where I don’t mind getting up to go to work in the morning.”