I spent my weekdays this summer working for Academic Support at Mercyhurst. What I thought it was going to be at first was just an extension of my school year work study job, but then it turned into an experience more beneficial and worthwhile than I could have asked for.
The biggest thing I have taken away from this experience is a renewed respect for everyone I worked under and with. The amount of work people do behind the scenes to keep the university running smoothly is amazing. Things you don’t even think about are done. We as students might be able to take the summer off, but a university is working year-round. For Academic Support, May was spent cleaning up things from last semester, like issuing suspensions and probation, June was spent getting everything ready for orientations, including creating schedules for all incoming freshmen, July was spent cleaning out the entire hallway for the first time in probably a decade, and August was spent taking care of all students withdrawing from the university and other last-minute things. There was so much more, though. All of this happened on top of students needing to change schedules, students with other academic questions, professors with questions, and things I wasn’t privy to because I just took the message of “give them a call”.
As the summer went on, I learned the names and roles of more people and they now know me. I was able to answer more and more questions without having to go to counselors. I was even given more responsibility in order to help them out more with tedious computer work. And on a personal level, I definitely felt like I grew more confident with my phone skills and interpersonal skills. As for this upcoming semester, working for six hours a week instead of 30-plus is going to be a weird experience. However, compared to my first semester of being thrown behind the desk and expected to answer the phone when I knew jack about anything going on, I am so much more comfortable with how to be the “front desk person”. And as a junior, I can be someone the other work studies can look to for answers.
Working at your university gives you some insight behind the scenes. Some parents and students can be completely clueless and sometimes working for the university can be stressful, more stressful than I could have imagined. However, I really enjoyed learning about what they do and how they do it and sort of getting an idea of what university life is like over the summer.
I am not saying I’m changing my entire career path (you can’t change something you don’t have!) but I am not discounting higher education as a place for me to find a job in the future. The seed is definitely planted in the back of my mind. I really hope I will be able to do this again next summer.
