3 Questions with Student Employees - Part 1
Ever wonder what it’s like to have a job on your college campus? Just about every department at Chatham offers student employment positions, and as a result, many of our students gain on-the-job experience just a few doors down from their dorm rooms. We asked student employees from various offices on campus to highlight the benefits of working on campus; read on for their insights, tips, and career aspirations—
Brooke Duplantier
Major: Graduate Food Studies
Campus Job: Quantitative Data Analyst for CRAFT (Center for Regional Agriculture, Food, and Transformation), Sustainability Educator for Eden Hall K-12 Program
Tell us a little bit about your job on campus and what made you apply for it.
BD: In the first year of my program, I applied for my CRAFT position looking to get more involved in Food Studies and a regional food system I was unfamiliar with as a newcomer to Pittsburgh. I hadn’t ever worked with data on this scale—in fact, I applied for a different position, already taken, and my supervisors convinced me in the interview that I could take this role on. In this role, I request, clean, and verify information on the local food system of PA, OH, and WV. For example, we seek out a list of a farmers then clean this information line by line, farmer by farmer, to be released for the public.
Now in my second year, I am also a Sustainability Educator. I sought out this position to combine my passion for food justice with the joy I get from youth education. This year, we are all virtual, so I have been creating and facilitating sustainability lesson plan activities for virtual field trips.
What is your favorite part of your campus job?
BD: My job with CRAFT is a constant learning experience in a position that I had never envisioned myself. My voice is always valued and my ideas are just as important as any permanent staff. CRAFT is a powerhouse organization; they always do great work. I have come to know our regional food system through my small role in it. The same can be said about my K-12 job; though my favorite part is being able to introduce students to ideas I didn’t learn until college, like equity, food justice, and environmental racism. In turn, I have learned so much from these students. They already know the meaning and experiences behind the concepts, we’re just giving them the tools to conceptualize and communicate them. I’m so thankful to be a small part of that.
What advice would you have for a student who is seeking on-campus employment?
BD: Join an organization whose mission you really believe in, that way it matters less about what day-to-day role you play. If you can stay with that job for several years and grow each year, that is ideal for both you and the organization. I am so grateful to have worked with CRAFT throughout my degree, and remorseful that I didn't join the K-12 team sooner!
Quentin (QUINN) Clarke
Major: Biology: Cellular and Molecular
Campus Job: Athletic Fitness Center Manager
Tell us a little bit about your job on campus and what made you apply for it.
QC: I consider my campus position to consist of two main jobs. The first job deals directly with the Athletic Fitness Center. I complete shifts at the front desk (or one of the other stations within the facility) ensuring safety protocols and occupancy limits are being followed, in addition to cleaning the equipment. I also assist higher management in any tasks asked of me. The second portion of my job takes place during shifts as Game Staff. This involves a multitude of responsibilities depending on the sport and its requirements. I am a member of the Men’s Lacrosse team and my current roommate, teammate, and Resident Assistant at the time, recommended applying for the job based on his own position at the AFC. After he introduced me to my current manager, working at the AFC felt like the perfect option for me.
What resume-building skills have you developed while working in this position?
QC: With the wide array of responsibilities my position allows me to experience, there are a number of different resume-building skills I’ve been able to learn/develop. Some of the major, notable skills are implementing security and safety protocols, management of procedure completion amongst peers and coworkers, even skills such as cash drawer management and providing customer service.
What is your favorite part of your campus job?
QC: As a member of the Men’s Lacrosse team, this role comes with its own commitments on top of my responsibilities as a full-time student. My favorite part of this job is the time flexibility offered with my fairly busy schedule. My other favorite part of my job is the integration the position has with the two main time consuming components of my life, my role as an athlete and as a student. I get to be involved in many of the “behind the scenes” portions of university athletics, develop relationships with higher athletic management and fellow athletes from other teams.
Lalah C. Williams (she/hers)
Major: Policy Studies with a French Minor
Campus Job: Program Assistant at the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics
Tell us a little bit about your job on campus and what made you apply for it.
LCW: At the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics (PCWP) I serve as the Program Assistant. I am responsible for connecting with partners of the Center, creating marketing materials, and assisting in the planning, recruiting, and execution of events and programs. One of my main responsibilities is the promotion of our events and programs on campus, Pittsburgh, and the state. One of my favorites to promote is NEW Leadership, because I make phone calls to universities all over the Commonwealth. Some of the universities have sent students in the past and have nothing but positive feedback, and other times there are universities who have not heard of the program but are excited to learn more.
My advisor had suggested the position for me during my first semester at Chatham. She had seen my resume and gauged my interest and career goals. She thought I would be a good fit, so I applied. The PCWP was one of the many reasons I chose to attend Chatham. The idea of working for an organization that helps train women to run for elected office and prepares college students for careers in politics and policy making was so exciting as it is something that I have wanted to do since I became interested in politics. I was offered the job, accepted it, and have loved every minute of it.
Do you have a dream job? If so, has your campus job influenced that at all?
LCW: I’m glad you asked. My dream job is to be Governor of Maryland, my home state. We have never had a Black, or female Governor of the state. While I have a big goal I am still deciding where I want to start, but hearing from women across all offices has helped me narrow my choices down. The Elsie Hillman Chair in Women & Politics is an annual event held by the PCWP in which we award a woman, or two, with the Elsie Hillman Prize. In October, two former Governors, Jennifer Granholm (Michigan) and Susana Martinez (New Mexico), were awarded. In the student reception, I was able to hear them speak firsthand about their experiences in politics and as the first female governors of their states. They spoke about how they got their start in politics, their career paths, how they campaigned, and the challenges and accomplishments.
What is your favorite part of your campus job?
LCW: I love meeting with and hearing from the women in politics who we invite to speak at our events. They are all impressive and entered politics by different means and for different reasons. In working these events, I also enjoy hearing their “If I only knew” stories. While these are entertaining stories, they are also passing down wisdom to those of us who want to hold positions like theirs. These women are also very excited to hear from students. Being able to speak with them directly is a unique opportunity that I do not think I would have had elsewhere.
Tell us a little bit about your job on campus and what made you apply for it.
JM: For CRAFT, I started working on collecting oral histories from Western PA and West Virginia, but now with COVID, what I do has shifted to working more with interviews from our archive to make them more accessible. In a nutshell, I help to make sure people’s food stories are told. I was really excited when I applied to work with CRAFT because I had never worked with oral histories before. I was excited to learn something new and I think it’s important to talk about history through the lived experiences of everyday people. I was working in agriculture before I came to this program, I enjoy doing it and I think I’m pretty good at it so I was instinctively drawn to the farm. But I just kind of fell into working with the bees and have since become the primary caretaker in the apiary. My parents used to have a few hives at their house so I had some interest in it from brief past interactions, but working really intimately with them this last year and a half has been an incredible learning experience. It’s definitely a lifelong interest!
What is your favorite part of your campus job?
JM: I think because on-campus employment is for students, the learning environment extends out to the jobs I do. My supervisors are always really supportive and great at sharing their knowledge and creating space for me to pursue what I’m interested in.
Do you have a dream job? If so, has your campus job influenced that at all?
JM: I don’t think I really have a dream job, or at least it hasn’t come to me yet. I enjoy working outside and jobs that have variety from day-to-day as well as opportunities to keep learning. My campus jobs have affirmed these feelings and given me the chance to explore some potential career paths.
Josie Martin
Major: Graduate Food Studies
Campus Job: Qualitative Data Analyist at CRAFT and Apiary Manager at Eden Hall Farm
ANI STEELE
Major: Graduate Food Studies
Campus Job: CRAFT Student Outreach and Research Coordinator
Tell us a little bit about your job on campus and what made you apply for it.
AS: I wanted to work for CRAFT because of their work to create an equitable and sustainable food system for people and small businesses in western PA. I like how they do this through research but also through community based services like the Maker-In-Residence program and the Innovation Lab.
What resume-building skills have you developed while working in this position?
AS: Constructing project ideas, writing up project proposals, outlining the purpose of the project and how it relates to the organization’s mission and my role, social media marketing and so much more! It’s been an amazing experience.
What advice would you have for a student who is seeking on-campus employment?
AS: Even though you are trying to build up your resume, find something that you enjoy too! No matter what job you get, there are going to be skills that you can use to market yourself in the professional world. Make sure you enjoy it, too.
Interested in student employment opportunities at Chatham? Learn more here.
