It is the beginning another great week here in the University Centers. I just want to give a little shot out to the Centers Services team! They washed the outside of the Centertainment office windows in the rain today. It just started pouring right in the middle of it! There are so many great people I work with here.

The student employees are what makes the Centers go round! As a manager I try to always keep in mind we are all students here. No one has more than someone else to do; we are all in the same boat.
Learning
Studying
Working
Socializing
Networking
Achieving
This means there is always someone to talk to! There is such a sense of community here. A network of support and encouragement. I was thinking just yesterday how hard it is going to be for me to leave at the end of the up coming semester.

These thoughts were prompted after reading Andy's blog about getting involved in the Student Government Association.

DO IT!

I am involved with SGA in a bit of a different way than Andy is. I report about SGA for the campus newspaper "The Pointer." I never really thought I would like getting involved in "politics." I have learned so much though!

As a student at this university, this is YOUR money they are dealing with, YOUR education and YOUR environment in which you have a right to be comfortable in.

It is also a great way to feel that sense of a networking community. You will meet more great people to count on during your time here.

Not to mention being involved in student government look phenomenal on a resume!

I have an addiction to always know what is going on around me. Seems natural being a journalism student, hmm? Being involved with SGA and having professional relationships with the people directly involved provides me with a lot of the knowledge I want to know about.

This is a skill I know I will use in any of my post-college career endeavors and I know you will too.
And connecting this into employment as I have been called to do, there are employment opportunities through SGA as well. You could even run to the president or vice president of the student body!

There is some food for thought for you to chew on until next time!
*Avra*

Appreciate the Attitude

Hello all! I hope you are enjoying these early dog days of summer before the best years of your life (so far…). The Centertainment event schedule is in its final stages for the fall semester. I am so excited for this semester, I can barely contain myself!

I did have a bit of a roadblock in my life a couple weeks ago… It had me questioning my abilities and work ethic. But also made me realize how fortunate I am to have this job.

One thing I can definitely appreciate about working in the Centers is that I know I am appreciated. Working on campus is also a growing opportunity. There is a lot of feedback from both sides, the employee and the employer. Communication is key.
I was recently let go from a part time job that I had only had for about three weeks. They did not give me a good reason as to why they let me go, and I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I later found out from some faithful friends, I had managed to make, they thought I “had an attitude.” I will agree on this to some degree. I think I cared too much, something that has been deeply embedded in my work ethic from working on campus. I wanted to do things the right way, and I was fired for it? There was a guy who would come in for his shifts drunk and only ever got warnings. Figure that one out. But, this is an issue they could have easily confronted me about and I would have made a conscious effort to change.
In all honesty, I think I may have intimidated them. I wanted to do things the right way because that is the only way I know how to do things. I have a lot of job experience in the field this job was in and they just simply didn’t like the fact they couldn’t push me around.

I am seeing a growing trend in regards to this. It appears to me the more people are in need of jobs, the more employers are treating their applicants and current employees poorly. Employers *know* people need jobs and are taking advantage of how poorly people will let themselves be treated in order to get a paycheck.
My sister for instance, is a substitute at a local amusement park in my hometown. Instead of the people who need someone to take their shift doing their own dirty work and finding someone themselves, the subs have to call around to see if anyone needs a shift covered. That is bogus. If I need someone to cover a shift, that shift is my responsibility to take care of and find someone to work it.
I have a lot of friends looking for employment at the moment. Most of them are recent graduates. Not to scare you, but they are having a really hard time finding employment. I do believe that by the time you are a college grad, the market will be in better shape. Especially if you have an impressive University Centers job on your résumé and know how to market it to employers (I will talk about that at a later date).

Anyway, when my friends are submitting applications they are not informed of the status of it for weeks, if they are lucky to even hear back at all. It is up to the job seekers to again do someone else’s work. I will be the first to prove calling people to tell them they did not get an interview or the position are not the easiest phone calls to make, but are a common courtesy.
Let’s face it, this generation of employment seekers is a very ambitious one. We are finding ourselves bored at our internships and holding three and four jobs at a time if we can get hired.

All I can say in light of the situation is stay positive and confident you can find employment. Get as much experience while you are on campus as you can. Seriously, you will be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them here. You will get so many opportunities at professional –type tasks and responsibilities you will think you can conquer anything.

I feel like that sometimes! Especially after a successful first week of classes and events!

The events the first week of school, I believe, sets the tone for the whole semester. And this semester’s first week events is definitely a fabulous one.
The Poster Sale will be held in front of the DUC Pergola all week (Mon. Aug 31-Fri. Sep. 4) from 9am to 5pm.

Tuesday, Sep. 1 Judson Laipply will be on campus. I know you know who this is (unless you have been living under an Internet rock)! click on the photo!

Wednesday, Sep. 2 Saving Jane is gracing the campus with their presence. Their hit song, Super Girl, has been on my Mp3 player for months!

Come to these events to find out about more Centertainment events. Also, look for an events calendar in your awesome stack of information on your desk in your res. hall room when you move to campus.

Hello fellow UWSP students!

I am glad you could join me today as you begin your journey as a college student! Especially in this time of economic stress, you probably could not be in a better place. It may seem rough, but if you keep your eyes on the prize and focus on the light at the end of the tunnel you will soon find out how rewarding your college experiences will be.

I am going to tell you about my journey. I graduated high school in a class of about 500 students in 2005. I was then off to Luther College, a small private school in the corn fields of Decorah, Iowa. It was a city in itself but it forced me to be more independent than I ever had to be in my life.

Before I has even started high school, I had developed a very high work ethic and was then practically addicted to working. So what was one of the first things I did when I arrived at college? You guessed it. Looked for a job.

I was a music and theater student so I already had a lot of connections in these departments. When I was a touring the college as an incoming freshman I had met with the professor who ran the costume shop. He told me to come find him when I arrived on campus and he would give me a job. Always try to make these kinds of connections. When someone says “come find me and we will see what we can do for you” DO IT. Even if you aren’t that interested, it could be an essential launch pad.

So I started working in the costume shop which gave me another job opportunity in the scene shop. This then gave me another job opportunity to work in the theater department main office. And in turn, gave me another job on the fine arts building custodial staff during the winter break!

See what I mean?

As you could probably tell, I ended up transferring. I was very far from home and ear training kicked my behind. So I decided on Point because of the prestigious fine arts department and it is closer to home. I intended to somehow be involved in theater design tech, for obvious reasons.

I landed a job in the costume shop here and found it very challenging. I enjoy a little bit of challenge so I stuck it out as best I could.

I was fired halfway through the semester.

I decided to become a communication major after this. It was definitely career changing. It was not until second semester I found an open public relations position on campus. At this time, I did not realize the force that is the University Centers.

I was granted an interview. The Centers was then housed in the oldest (and probably scariest) building on campus. I had to trudge all the way over there in the March snow. Unaware of what I was about to get myself into. There were at least 10 people in that room, plus myself. It was quite intimidating.

But needless to say, I was hired as the public relations coordinator for Centertainment Productions.

Centertainment is the student event planning and programming board department of the University Centers.

After a year as the PR coordinator, the student manager position opened and I jumped for it. That was the second most awkward interview I had ever experienced because I now knew all 10 people on the interview panel.

That is where I am at now and have been for two semesters: the student manager of Centertainment. I had never even considered event planning as an option. But I find the joy it brings to audiences and to the event planners. Just as the joy costumes bring to a theater performance and the people who produce them.

As my graduation date approaches I am faced with a similar dilemma I had when I began my college journey. Looking for a job. I am journalism emphasis communication major and I read about newspapers folding (no pun intended?) every month. Like I said, you are in the best place you could be for employment.

There are jobs that open on this campus every semester!

College employment is so much more than a pay check every two weeks. It is a supplemental learning experience. If you play your cards right, or are picky enough, you will find something directly related to your area of study. Or if you are like myself, even if it is not related to your major or minor, you will find avenues in which it is. I will talk about this more in the future.

PLUS! You will meet some of the greatest, most unforgettable people you have ever met in your life. I have so many best friends that I have met by working on campus. I still am friends with people I worked with in the costume shop!

Stay tuned to my blog for updates on campus events, employment opportunities and how to get the best of your college career through employment.

I encourage you to start looking for a position on campus. It will ease the nerves of your parents and help you develop essential life skills. Simply interviewing is a great tool to practice.

It was nice to meet all of you!

*Avra*