MOM MODE
From bug spray to the buddy system, Barb Burja keeps the brigade on time, on task and in plenty of sunscreen. By Jesse Lee
Ask any student who’s volunteered for Global Brigades in the past seven years about Barb Burja, the Marquette staff leader of the organization, and they’ll tell you she has two modes. The first — and her typical state of being — is laidback, fun, sometimes goofy and always smiling. The second is what she calls “mom mode.” “Oh, mom mode,” Burja laughs. “Mom mode is keeping everybody on schedule. Sometimes in the culture, things can move slowly.” On brigade, Burja says “anybody and everybody” is subject to mom mode, including in-country staff. “The main mission of our time in Nicaragua is that we have a job to do,” she says. “If we’re late, that may mean we can’t see as many patients that day. So it’s really holding ourselves accountable for the work we agreed to do.” Gabby Berg, a senior biomedical sciences major and one of the four student leaders of the brigade, says Burja’s mom mode keeps everyone on track.
“Our parents can rest assured, even though we’re thousands of miles away, we still have a brigade mom watching over us,” Berg says. “The repetitive — but necessary — lectures she gives us about sunscreen, bug spray, sleep, drinking water and the buddy system are all important and keep us all organized.” Burja, CJPA ’93, says that while it’s important to provide constant reminders to the students, she views her role as one of guidance, giving enough room for students to grow into their own leadership styles. “I always say I’m like the bumper guard in a bowling alley,” Burja says. “If they need a lot of assistance, I kind of pull them in so that bowling ball can hit the pins. But if they’re on it, I can just give them loose parameters and let them go to town.” “Barb has the ability to see beyond what a student perceives attainable for themselves,” Berg says. “Personally, as a leader, and specifically during the first-semester planning stages, this can lead to what
mom mode
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