Gym teacher Melissa Fustino is finishing up her thirteenth year as a security guard at Fenway Park in Boston, carrying out her love of sports in both of her jobs.

Fustino majored in sports management at the University of Connecticut which led her to her dream job of watching every Red Sox game, and getting paid for it. Fustino started working security at Fenway in 2005.

“I needed to do an internship for school to complete my program and my major,” Fustino said. “My advisor at University of Connecticut knew the [Red Sox] general manager in Sarasota, so he asked if I wanted to go down to Florida and work with them for about five or six months. I then landed at Fenway where I am now.”

Working in the fan services department for the Red Sox, Fustino is one of the EMC Club guards.

“It is one of their premium private areas up there,” Fustino said. “My duties involve me standing at the door making sure only ticketed people, and those who should be in the club come in the club. And if there are any issues inside the club, we handle those, just making sure people are happy and they are in the right place.”

After working at Fenway for years, Fustino has many fun experiences and stories which she passes on to her students.

“Myself and two guys I work with went down to the showcase stage with the World Series trophies, but there were no tables,” Fustino said. “They’re [the trophies] about 25 pounds. So the three of us are standing on stage holding them, and this is about an hour long televised event. And your arms are killing, but obviously it is worth it.”

Fustino loves living the double life both as a teacher, and as a guard, and hopes to continue both for years to come.