The Roanoker - January/February 2018 - 31
NEWCOMER DELIGHTS AS SEEN ON THE COVER TheRoanoker.com HI ! MY NAME I S Within the space of a few short weeks, Ambruzs' partner found a job in the city, the pair bought a house near Morningside Park, and Ambruzs discovered the perfect retail space for his new venture- Downshift Bikes, a commuter-geared cycling shop and cafe. Although the people of Roanoke originally sold the city to the pair, cost of living played a huge role and allowed them to not only buy a house, but start up a brand new business at the same time. These days, Ambruzs is busy running Downshift Bikes and exploring Roanoke through the lens of bicycles and good f riends. Downshift Bikes itself serves as a gathering place with its attached café where one can grab a cup of coffee or share a pint with others. For someone so new to Roanoke, Ambruzs has certainly made it his home and is excited to share it with other newcomers. As he so succinctly put it, "the people here are the best part of Roanoke," and Roanoke is certainly lucky that it can now count Ambruzs as one of its people. EMILY SAVOIE DIROMA PUTTING THE COMMUTE IN COMMUNITY R OANOKE IS SURPRISINGLY blessed with a plethora of higher education choices within a one or twohour drive from downtown. For a medium-sized city in a rural part of the state, 25 different colleges and universities are located within the greater Roanoke region-something that brought one couple together after a year spent four states apart. Emily met Tom DiRoma in graduate school at Indiana University of Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, where both were working toward their degrees in Student Affairs in Higher Education. A unique degree, the program prepares students for careers in higher education, and the couple knew that their odds of landing jobs at the same university-or even in the same region-were slim. "When we looked for jobs, Tom was able to find one at Lynchburg College as the Assistant Director of Student Involvement, but I ended up at Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Georgia," she explains. After a year of traveling back and forth between the two states, they knew something needed to change, and fast. Each applied for jobs closer to the other, but Emily lucked out first and was hired by Ferrum College to be its Coordinator for First Generation Success. With almost 50% of Ferrum's student body comprised of first generation students, DiRoma's role was not only crucial for the college's success, but also allowed her to live with her now-husband. Since the two work in polar opposite directions (Ferrum is 45 minutes south of Roanoke while Lynchburg College is just over an hour northwest of the city), "most of our time is spent in a car," DiRoma laughs. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 31