Life at Loyola is hard as a student. You’re trying to figure out your place in the world: your future, your finances and your direction. All of these things can make you feel a little rundown and sometimes you just want to vent.
But beware of venting to the wrong people.
I say this because I am often on the other side of the venting. I am both a student and staff person at Loyola, so I understand both sides. But as a staff person, I feel students should know that angry rants in our offices and phone calls from your parents aren’t going to help the situation.
I’ve heard it more than once:
“Why won’t my courses transfer?!?!”
“What do you mean I can’t take the last 30 hours of my coursework at another university?”
“Why did the incomplete on my transcript turn into an F?”
“Why can’t I graduate even though I failed that course?”
“But I’m already scheduled to graduate in the spring!!!”
The rants and the questions are rooted in frustration. And as a staff person and a student, I feel your pain. I truly do. But yelling, screaming, throwing a tantrum in my office (or anyone’s office), followed by a phone call from your mother or father is not the way to handle it.
It won’t solve your problem. It won’t gain you respect. And it will leave you even more frustrated and tired than you already were.
I’ve spent hours on the phone with parents in the past, so I have a lot of first-hand experience in this one. They’re sweet people, but they shouldn’t have to hold your hand through this. This is college. You are an adult. You can vote. You can drive. This should be easy.
I graduated from Loyola in 2003 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in communication, and returned to work here in 2006. I can say from both professional and life experience that how you present your message (i.e. your tone and body language) is as important – if not more so – than the message itself.
I’ve had people ask me for x, y and z with folded arms, curt remarks and rolling eyes. They stomp in the office with heavy feet and stomp right out the office with just as much noise. It’s as if they feel I personally offended them by relaying the process to solve their problem.
There is always a step 1, step 2, step 3 to getting something done. It doesn’t matter if you’re at Loyola or at City Hall. (And Loyola is much more efficient than City Hall.) The process may involve two steps. It may involve 15 steps. You may not agree with the process, but rather than wage war on it, just do what is asked and you will get what you want. It’s that easy.
You can go home happy. I can go home happy. And most of all, sweet mummy and daddy can stay happy too.
The staff people who work at Loyola are good people. We don’t make the rules. We carry them out. In other words, I am just the messenger.
We are here to assist you. We are here to help you succeed. We want you to succeed. We don’t deserve to be yelled at or treated poorly. We deal with it every day, all day from countless students – year after year after year. And I just wanted to take a minute to say kindness can go a long way.
Crystal Bolner is an administrative assistant in the School of Mass Communication.
