HELEN CHUNG; Photographer; chunghh@plu.edu
HANNA MCCAULEY; Guest Writer; mccaulha@plu.edu
The end of the school year is right around the corner. It’s a time when most of us start to think about our next move. Often times with every change, we experience transformation. This can be especially true for students who are graduating. For some students, the next journey may be somewhere far away from Pacific Lutheran University, while others might choose to stay right here at PLU. We caught up with three PLU alumni to see how their lives have transformed from being a PLU student to being a PLU staff member.
Kate Williams, Outreach manager for the School of Arts and Communications
WHAT LED YOU TO COME BACK TO PLU?
“Well, to be honest, I missed it a lot. I missed being in a school environment where everyone is learning. I missed all the faculty and staff that I experienced while I was at Pacific Lutheran University, and I saw this job opening. It’s interesting because as a student, I worked for this position. I knew what the position was, I knew what I needed to do for it, and I had the experience of going to PLU for four years. So I felt like this was a great opportunity for me.”
HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO WORK AT PLU?
“Once I graduated after four years, I kind of wanted to go out and explore what was out there. I almost felt like I had enough by that point. After being gone from PLU for a year, I have to say, I really missed it. I’m glad to be back.”
HOW WAS YOUR ROLE TRANSFORMED FROM STUDENT TO PROFESSIONAL?
“As a student, I got a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design. My knowledge base was only in art and design. Working at this job, I am in charge of all the different departments under the School of Arts and Communication. I know so much more about the dance, theatre, communication and music programs. I feel more well-rounded as a SOAC alum, because now I know all the different parts of the school that I was previously in.”
HOW DID THIS TRANSFORMATION IMPACT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS?
“With faculty, it feels like we are peers. Not so much, ‘I’m a professor and they are a professor,’ but in terms of us both working at the university. I think a lot of the things are the same. We still have the same jokes and have the same amount of fun, but I also need them to help me write articles and promote their events. I think it hasn’t changed in a bad way. The relationship has just developed more. With students, it has been kind of weird. I know some of the students that are still here, but I graduated almost two years ago now. I feel like I am in more of a position to be a mentor to these students, since I’ve been through what they have been through.”
Alaa Alshaibani, Academic Adviser
WHAT LED YOU TO COME BACK TO PLU?
“It was definitely not in the plan. I was planning on going to grad school, but decided to take a gap year because it was too expensive. I spent three months after graduation searching for jobs. This job just kind of came out of the blue. So, I applied and got the job.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO WORK AT PLU?
“I don’t think I’ve ever thought about working at PLU after graduation, because I worked a lot of student jobs while I was at PLU. I worked the front desk my first year. I worked as a barista. I worked as a CCES at different schools around the area. It wasn’t really until I saw the job at PLU.”
HOW WAS YOUR ROLE TRANSFORMED FROM STUDENT TO PROFESSIONAL?
“It was weird when I first started, but the transition has been fine. I didn’t think students would take me seriously, because I am young. I work with mostly with first-years. To them, I am this older, wiser person, which is interesting for me.”
HOW DID THIS TRANSFORMATION IMPACT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS?
“I still go to the same people for advice that I used to when I was a student. I wouldn’t say this position has created a deeper bond though, because as a student I would see them more often. I guess something that I didn’t realize was that people are very segregated on campus. Every department is their own department. Everyone is so busy doing their own thing, and there isn’t a lot of blending. Whereas when you’re a student, you are jumping from one place to another constantly in one day. You see people from different departments and areas. When you’re working here, you are just in your area. Whenever I have time, I try to make it purposeful and go out and try to see people. I wouldn’t say my relationships have significantly changed though. I still have friends that are students here and go to the same people for advice.”
Travis Pagel, Classroom and Event Technologies Team Lead
WHAT LED YOU TO COME BACK TO PLU?
“So, I never really left. I started in July of 2007 about a month after I graduated. I actually worked as a student worker in this department. I’ve been doing the AV sound stuff since I was 15 in high school and throughout college. When an opportunity opened up here, I applied because I liked doing different things every day and working with clients at events.”
HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO WORK AT PLU?
“No, I don’t think so. You know, it was a job after college and it was something I was familiar with. I knew I would enjoy this job because I had done it as a student. Since I’ve been here, my role has expanded and now I oversee the department. Not something I ever planned on, but I’m glad the opportunity presented itself, because I’m grateful to be here.”
HOW WAS YOUR ROLE TRANSFORMED FROM STUDENT TO PROFESSIONAL?
“As a student, I was working within the processes and policies that my employers had set out. I got to see how that impacted what we did on a day-to-day basis. Transitioning from a student to staff member, I got to be on the other side of that and make changes to the way that we do things. The changes are based on the perspective of how that’s going to impact our student workers. It is still a challenge is to think of it from that perspective. I think it was nice starting as a student and transitioning through that process, so I could have a picture of what both sides of that look like. When I started in 2007, I was just a general employee and now work as the head of the department.”
HOW DID THIS TRANSFORMATION IMPACT YOUR RELATIONSHIPS?
“Well, when I started working here, I had a lot of friends and people that I knew who were still students. As a recent college grad, it was a little bit challenging at first to separate myself and be professional. If I got invited to go to a party or do something like that, I had to say I wasn’t a student anymore, I was a staff member. I had to separate from those kinds of situations. Also, a lot of the people I was friends with were now my student employees. It was tough at first navigating that situation, but everyone was really great about it and respected the fact that I was now their supervisor. I wasn’t sure how the dynamic had changed with faculty that I had gotten to know. I can’t remember the faculty member, but I went to troubleshoot something in their class. It was probably 5 years after I graduated, and they were like ‘What are you still doing here? Didn’t you graduate?’ But all in all, it was pretty good. It probably took a couple of years for people to fully realize that I wasn’t a student still.”
