![\"Devi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Devi-Singh14.webp\")
<\/a>Parting Gift: Stephanie Garcia gives Devi Singh a gift during her retirement luncheon at North Campus on Sept. 23. NATHAN CENAL\/THE REPORTER<\/p>\nBorn in Guyana in South America, Singh moved to the United States when she was 13.
She graduated from Miami Central High School in 1983 and enrolled at North Campus shortly after. Singh earned an associate of science degree in computer programming in 1986 before getting her bachelor\u2019s degree in supervision management 32 years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her professional journey at MDC started in 1987 as a part-time clerk in the physical education department.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She briefly left North Campus to work retail at Caswell Massey, a fragrance and personal care store, in Bayside, before returning as a secretary in the continuing education department.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A year later, she moved to the assessment center, processing promotional tests for police officers applying to advance in their careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The following year, she made her way to the library as a full-time clerk, writing payroll, requisitions and memos for the chairperson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since, the library has been home,\u201d Singh said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 1991, she became a library technician in learning resources, updating databases with journals and magazines and handled interlibrary loans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the courtyard and library merged, Singh became an instructional assistant and cataloger. She worked the service desk, greeting students and answering questions and cataloging books.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
During her time in learning resources, she received the excellence award in 1992, 1997 and 2005.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I will carry with me is the way she consistently treated people with kindness, patience, and genuine care,\u201d said Oxile Accius, instructional assistant in learning resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Singh started considering retirement in 2018 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following her diagnosis, she underwent chemotherapy before undergoing surgery in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer strength isn\u2019t just that she survived difficult things, her strength is that she continued to have a good heart through them,\u201d said Singh\u2019s youngest daughter, Rishani, who is 23.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During retirement, Singh will continue baking, tend to her vegetable garden, catch up on reading non-fiction novels, paint and spend more time with her six siblings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those of you wondering what I\u2019m going to do in retirement, don\u2019t worry. I\u2019ll be practicing a new skill: doing absolutely nothing without feeling guilty about it,\u201d Singh said.\u00a0<\/p>\n