When you think about your job, do you ever wonder what it would be like if your job did not exist? Most of us could probably imagine our jobs not existing and there would not be a real big change. Can you imagine if the field you work in did not exist? This thought came into mind yesterday. There was a time when colleges and universities did not have student affairs departments. There was a time when students came to their classes and then went home. My job did not exist. That is a scary thought. I see my job as very important (obviously it is important to me since it gives me an income so I am not homeless), but I would argue that a lot of people find my job to be important.
A lot of colleges and universities are changing their curriculum to enhance experiential learning. Experiential learning is the idea of bringing together observation, lecture, and hands on experience. This is the reason that a lot of people talk about how their internship taught them more than they ever learned in the classroom. Are students (or parents) really spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend countless hours in a classroom for nothing and then spend one semester at an internship and that is where the learning happens? If that was the case, most colleges would not exist. The reason students claim that they learned more in their internship than in the classroom is because everything they were absorbing in the classroom finally made sense at their internship. That is where my job comes into play. People are always talking about saving money and having to plan out expenses. Everyone talks about being busy and having to prioritize work and their social lives. Does this make sense to an 18 year old? Of course not. A lot of students coming to college have been given money any time they asked. When a student comes to live in a residence hall, they do not have chores that they have to get done. There is nobody telling them they need to get their homework done before dinner because they will be cleaning up dishes after. Will your mom or dad call at midnight and say, "hey, better go to bed. 8 a.m. class tomorrow."? That never happens. My job is not to teach students about science or how the stock market works (If I did, our future would not look good). My job is to teach students responsibility and every so often, teach a student that they are a leader.
Do you realize how important this is? My job is to teach students simple things like making sure they fill out a time sheet. The students I employ are cleaning coffee mugs and resetting furniture at the end of the night. If I asked them why they are doing that job their response would be, "because the mugs were dirty?" No. I can clean mugs. I don't think I needed a Master's Degree to get you to clean mugs. My job was to teach you that you need to be here on time. My job is to teach you that if those mugs do not get cleaned, nobody can drink coffee. My job is to teach you that if nobody can drink coffee, nobody is going to come back. My job is to teach you that if nobody comes back, you do not have a job. My job is to teach these students that something as simple as cleaning mugs is a very important job. My job is to teach students who have been given things their whole lives, who will most likely be working at very large companies at very high levels, that the simplest job is very important. I am trying to teach these students to appreciate the person who delivers mail, who fixes the printer, who cleans the carpet, that person is a very valuable asset to the company. Are students going to learn this in the classroom? Probably not.
I cannot imagine a world where my job does not exist. There is a lot more that goes into my job but this is the part that I enjoy the most. I love teaching students to be better people.
