Taylor Foxx
Staff Writer
A woman walks around Magellan’s Grill carrying a camera in her hands with a smile on her face. She stops two students as they get their steak dinner.
“Hey, can I get your picture? Thanks!” she says as she turns and says to her coworkers, “Isn’t this exciting?”
The event is Sodexo’s “Stone Steakhouse,” in which Magellan’s Grill prepares a gourmet steak dinner for interested students. Sheetal Nangia, the marketing manager for Troy University Dining, couldn’t be more excited.
This event is just one of the many projects she has seen at Troy University since she arrived three and half years ago.
As the child of an immigrant, Nangia’s past is culturally diverse. Born in New Delhi, India, she came to live in New Jersey at the age of 12. Moving formed a big part of her life because of her family heritage and her later marriage to an American in the military.
“My family lived in New Jersey and then we lived in Florida for a few years,” Nangia said.
“We kept going back to India because my parents want us to have both lives still. We were always moving. I got married when I was 20, and we moved so much. Texas to Virginia to Germany for six years. We finally ended up in Enterprise.”
Nangia arrived at Fort Rucker in the summer of 2001 and saw Troy University as an opportunity to expand her learning. Though her marriage ended, she pushed towards her goals as a single mother and graduated from Troy University in 2006 with a double major in graphic design and photography.
Because of her family’s background in politics and her desire to challenge herself, she decided to continue her studies. In 2008, she graduated with her master’s in international relations just in time for the economic crisis of 2008.
“It was a very humbling experience for me. When I got my degree, I felt like I could conquer the world. The economy goes down and absolutely no one wants to hire me. I ended up getting a job at Lowes for $7.95 an hour and getting only 25 hours a week.”
After a year, Nangia went to be the sale’s manager at the Grove, an off-campus apartment complex.
Soon after, she got an offer to work at Troy University for Sodexo as the events coordinator.
She took the job and, since then, has risen to be the marketing manager.
Her background in graphic design has become one of her strengths in the company.
“Sheetal is an absolute imperative piece to the business,” said James Quinn, director of operations for Troy University Dining, “She probably has the best graphic designs that I have seen in the business for a long time. She has fantastic attention to detail. It would be a terrible disaster if she was not here. ”
As a part of her job, Nangia tries to find ways for Troy University Dining to be more connected to the student body, including partnerships with student organizations.
“Sheetal is a vital asset to the university community,” said Cody Farrill, a senior political science major and the SGA president from Panama City Beach, Fla. “She has helped FarmHouse fraternity tremendously. She has provided numerous amounts of hours and hands to help FarmHouse. Through our Philanthrocakes philanthropy, she has helped us offset costs to help us fight leukemia and lymphoma.”
Outside of work, Nangia focuses on her passions: time with her daughter Simme, a junior at Charles Henderson, and being involved in the community.
For interested students, Sheetal Nangia can be contacted by sending an email to: sheetal.nangia@sodexo.com.
