In my three years at Loyola, I’ve had my fair share of campus jobs – from stocking drinks in The Market, making sandwiches at Subway, creating social media content for academic departments, monitoring the desks in the dorms, shelving books at Tulane, to now being a resident assistant in Biever Hall.
One thing to note about campus jobs is the people you’re serving. They’re not strangers in a restaurant you can’t afford to eat at or at a movie theater counter asking for extra butter on their popcorn – they’re your peers. And not the occasional familiar face – you see the same faces at work, in class, in passing, everywhere.
For someone like me who chose Loyola for its small student population, it’s pretty endearing some days, but on others, I wish I could disappear into obscurity. Instead, I got a job at Tulane.
And for those fortunate enough to have the means to travel further off campus for work, I’m jealous.
I may not be an expert at campus jobs, (and I sincerely apologize if I’ve ever butchered your Subway sandwich), but in my time working all these odd jobs and always getting compared to Trish from “Austin & Ally,” I’ve encountered, in some fashion, every situation and scandal that could possibly occur at Loyola.
But one thing that never fails to stump me is the overall lack of consideration and respect from students.
At a single period of time, I am usually working two to three jobs just to afford to live – in addition to taking 18-21 credit hours as a double major with a minor.
Most days, I leave my dorm in Biever at 8 a.m. to go to my first job before clocking out to eat lunch as I walk to my first class of the day, then to my second, before heading off to my second job. And if I make it back to my dorm before midnight, I spend the remainder of my day doing homework and preparing to do it all again the next day.
As a first-generation college student, every obstacle I face in academia is one that I have to overcome on my own with little support from my parents, who have worked tirelessly their whole lives just to give me opportunities that they never had.
There isn’t a single day at Loyola that I take for granted because every discussion post and shift at a shitty job is one more conquered hurdle closer to my college degree, which will be the most honest and rewarding ‘thank you’ to my parents who’ve given their all for me to be where I am.
But my story isn’t unique. This story is one that many student workers at Loyola know and understand all too well, especially given that, as of fall 2023, 37% of full-time enrolled students are first-generation.
So if you’ve ever been rude to a bookstore employee, yelled at a resident assistant (namely during Mardi Gras), lingered in The Market a little too close to closing, or been disrespectful or inconsiderate to student workers in any capacity, now’s the time to check yourself.
Do better, Loyola. Be kinder. Be compassionate and be considerate of the lives your peers are leading because, in the end, we’re all just trying to reach our goals and be better people.
