By DeNae Thomas
Assistant Lifestyles Editor
Any Pepperdine student who has ever been to the Waves Café is acquainted with M. Cynthia Cordner.
Those who use the café on a regular basis know Cindy will usually be there to swipe their ID card, give them a vibrant smile and address them by name.
However, not many students know that Cindy’s real first name is Merle, that she grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, and that if opportunities were better there she would go back.
“You have to say both names when you say the name of my country,” Cordner said. “We are under one government and that is the official name so you can’t just say Trinidad.”
Throughout Cordner’s childhood everyone called her “Cynthia,” but when she came to America her name became what so many Pepperdine students affectionately use today, Cindy.
Cordner came to the United States on what she thought was going to be a vacation, but it ended up being a permanent move. She arrived in New York in December 1973 and quickly decided that she didn’t like it.
“I couldn’t understand New York,” Cordner said. “It was cold, nasty and full of crime. My country was Third World and it was better than that place.”
For Cordner, who was used to 80 degree weather in Trinidad and Tobago, the four years she spent in freezing cold New York were almost unbearable.
After visiting friends in Los Angeles, she decided to make a move to Southern California.
“I saw the Hibiscus flower out my window on the first morning I was in California and I knew this is where I should have been all along,” Cornder said. “I told myself that I was not going back to New York, job or no job.”
Cordner has now spent 25 years in Los Angeles and has spent six of them working at Pepperdine.
“I love L.A. We love it,” Cordner said, breaking into the Randy Newman song. “That should be our anthem.”
Although she thinks that if the job opportunities were better in Trinidad and Tobago she would move back there, for now Cordner said that she is content in warm, sunny Los Angeles.
“The New York scene was very damaging to my psyche and made me want to go back to Trinidad and Tobago,” Cordner said. “But here in Los Angeles it feels more like home and works for now.”
What is your favorite thing about working at Pepperdine?
Being at the register because I get to meet all of you people. I think that everyone here is wonderful. Sometimes you can tell that students are on the run and I understand that, but I like taking a quick minute to chit-chat and then move on.
Have you traveled since coming to the United States?
In summer 2001 I went over there to Western Europe and then to mainland China in summer 2002. I was able and the money was within my budget and so I just went. I also used to go to my home country every year for Mardi Gras.
How do you memorize everyone’s names?
I’ve memorized almost everyone’s names, but not quite. I just try to picture them with something else and when I associate the name with something then it just somehow sticks. Some of the names are so close that sometimes I get mixed up with Kimberly and Kathleen and all the other ones. I probably only know about 500 names.
What is your favorite music?
I love the Beatles! I also love the music from my country — the Calipso and the Steal Pan, which is like an oil drum.
What do you do when you’re not at Pepperdine?
I have a small garden at my home and I enjoy gardening. I also love sewing and mending clothes and reading.
What is your favorite book?
“Island of Adventure” by Edith Blythe and the first book in “The Godfather.” Those are the two books that are stuck in my memory as favorite reading material.
Do you have a dream vacation?
Staying in a Holiday Inn in the Caribbean. Or at a Holiday Inn in my country. Sometimes I really want to go home. The Mardi Gras celebration in my country is the best. I used to go every year because it just sucks you in. I haven’t gone since 1999, though. I miss the music of my country.
One word to describe yourself?
Happy. Although I do have my troubles, we all do. I have to shrug them off or I’d go berserk. I can listen to the Beetles or something that makes me feel good, then I can still exude warmth and love even when I really feel sad inside.
Anything you want to say to the student body?
Thanks for the love. For real. There you have it my lady.
February 06, 2003
