Kelly Mihalik is extremely disarming.

As she sat by a small, circular table in the corner of The Golden Roast, fully equipped in her UTPD, community relations uniform, gun included, Officer Kelly blended casually with the students sipping coffee around her. Being in the police field for four years now, Kelly said she still doesn’t see herself as a police officer.

“I’m a normal person,” Kelly said, laughing. “I think when I meet somebody for the first time, and they ask me what I do, nine out of 10 would not guess police officer. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but that’s just been my experience with it.”

Growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania with two parents in the military, Kelly said working with criminal justice just made sense to her, and she knew her style and personality would fit the job.

“I never really had the look before you leap gene, and police officers are the people you call when there’s danger happening,” Kelly said. “A normal person runs away from it but police officers have to run towards it, and I was like I can totally do that.”

After graduating from UT in 2008 with a degree in sociology, Kelly worked security jobs in Atlanta, Ga. But, just a year later, she found herself back on UT’s campus applying for a patrol position with UTPD.

She worked mostly night shifts from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and commented how many nights just a slight alteration in events could have changed the course of her life. Kelly noted that police officers aren’t afforded the luxury of being off their game.

“When you’re on patrol and you know that, not only the people that you work with, but also a whole community counting on you to have your best day when they need you, that’s a great responsibility,” she said.

When a position opened in October 2010 in the community relations unit, Kelly got the job. Still averaging about 40 hours a month on patrol, her main responsibilities now include keeping up with the UTPD website and social media accounts, putting on programming and outreach in the community and giving a face to UTPD.

Having transitioned from patrol work to the community relations unit, Kelly said she appreciates building relationships with students and faculty and being the one who gets stopped on the street rather than the one doing the stopping.

“I feel like I’m far more approachable just because people see me more …” Kelly said. “I find little tiny rewards pretty much every day, whether it’s just a person that comes up to me and says hi or you did a great program or or if it’s just someone who is not bummed to be talking to me.”

Kelly also teaches the Rape Aggression Defense class twice a week to students enrolled in the one credit hour course and once a month to interested community members.

“There are so many victories in that, empowering people and having survivors say they felt empowered and can protect themselves … that’s priceless to me,” Kelly said.

Laura Bryant, the associate director for the Center for Healthy Education & Wellness, works closely with Kelly in providing education and programming around campus. She said working with Kelly has changed her entire perception of the police field.

“Before working at UT, I never thought of police as being approachable,” Bryant said. “As a result of my relationship with Kelly, and really all of UTPD, I now realize that police officers are just people with guns and bullet proof vests. They are here to protect and serve, and they are also people like everyone else.”

Bryant said Kelly shines brightest during the Be Smart, Be Safe, Be a VOL presentation at the beginning of the year for new and transfer student orientation. Her job is to present the services and functions of UTPD, but Bryant said she is able to keep the demonstration light, interesting and fun for students, interweaving her own jokes that put students, and Bryant, at ease.

“After presenting with her for three years, I still find myself laughing every time,” Bryant said.

Kelly said her home life is pretty standard, and she enjoys getting to take off her “heavy duty belt,” and hang out with friends or watch TV. As a self-identified nerd, one of Kelly’s favorite things to do is read, and she once challenged herself to read a book every day throughout the month of March, reading 31 books in 31 days.

“I missed talking to people,” she joked, “but it was fun and I said I wanted to do and I did … I didn’t get to watch anything on Netflix or read magazines, or do anything else really, but I read 31 books … and that’s something no one can ever take away from me.”

Bryant said Kelly is an incredible person all around and she considers herself lucky to have her as a colleague. Last year, the incoming class of 2017 voted Kelly their favorite orientation speaker and New Student and Family programs invited Bryant to come with them to present the award.

Bryant recalled fondly the moment she got to give Kelly an honor she said was well deserved.

“We walked in and Kelly had no idea what was going on. As Emily Parker presented the award, Kelly turned bright red and was holding back tears,” Bryant said. “It was such a sweet moment to see her receive the award and be a part of celebrating the great work she does at the University of Tennessee.”