Holbrook, students embrace working on campus

The slower pace of summer in Greenville and at East Carolina University changes when thousands of students return for the fall semester.

While undergraduates are looking forward to the new year, students who worked on campus over the summer say they gained new skills, appreciation and perspective from their experience.

“Overall, it is a time to rejuvenate and reset; this same break period goes for workplaces as we get to catch up and decompress before everyone comes back,” said Wren Holbrook, a graduate circulation assistant at Joyner Library. “You would think it would be lonely, but recently freshmen orientation has been going on, so it has been a blast seeing all the new Pirates come in with a look of awe in their eyes as they take a tour of Joyner.”

Wren Holbrook rolls a circulation shelving truck on the first floor.

Holbrook, who is earning a master’s in sociology, assists patrons, maintains materials, restocks books, opens and closes the desk, and sometimes fills in for staff members on weekends. He also recently helped train an incoming graduate circulation assistant. He has enjoyed getting to work more closely with library staff and meet new people.

“As students continue to filter through ECU and complete their studies, Joyner will always be a constant space for long night studies, brief rushes for printing projects due in an hour, but more importantly, providing a sense of community that every Pirate holds dear even after they graduate and leave,” he said.

When Mason Schwartz, a resident advisor and senior from Fayetteville, decided to take a couple of summer classes, he wanted to stay on campus and work.

“If I’m going to be here, I might as well keep doing the job I like,” he said.

He moved from College Hill Suites, where he had been an RA for two semesters, to Fletcher Residence Hall for the summer. About 60 students were in the building, most with their own room, compared to about 60 residents on his hall alone during spring and fall.

“It’s quiet; that’s the weirdest part for me. But it’s really nice because I get to know the residents on a closer level. When you see everybody in the building, you know who everybody is,” said Schwartz, a biology major with a concentration in molecular and cell biology who, in addition to coursework, became certified as an EMT this summer.

“I don’t think you can beat the in-person class experience. I definitely relate to these residents being here,” said Schwartz, who will be an RA in Scott Residence Hall this fall.

“All the people who work for Campus Living have just been awesome,” he said. “I’ve worked three, four other jobs in my life and, of all of them, this one has been the most concerned about me as a person. Your bosses get to know you, and you work on small teams.”

Close by, senior Hayliegh Cook has worked the past two years as resident service manager in the Central/West Neighborhood Service Office, which serves Clement, Cotten, Fleming, Fletcher, Garrett, Greene, Jarvis, Umstead and White residence halls.

During the summer she works with the Office of Student Transitions to organize and provide housing for students and guests during freshman orientation sessions.

“My first year as resident service manager I loved the connections I made with the incoming freshmen and how that transitioned into the school year as those same students would come into the office and I was able to continue that relationship with them,” she said. “I was hooked on ECU with how connected they made me feel as an incoming freshman, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my last summer at ECU than to give back that same feeling.”

Compared to the normal buzz of the school year, Cook has grown to cherish the slowness of summer, walking on campus by herself and admiring the views that ECU has to offer.

Cook, a public health major from Ivor, Virginia, said her role has helped develop customer service skills that she can use in a future position to provide the best experience for patients.

“I feel it has deepened my love for helping others,” she said. “In my past two years in this role, I have learned what qualities within myself make me a good leader and how to use those to be a role model for my fellow student staff.”

Several students talked about the leadership skills they have gained working on campus.

In Campus Recreation & Wellness, ECU senior Delan Mclaughlin is a facility manager who works on both the main and health sciences campuses. He is responsible for opening the Eakin Student Recreation Center or the Health Sciences Campus Recreation Center facilities and overseeing facility assistants and recreation services assistants.

“You have to be a leader especially to watch over so many people. You have to be prepared every day,” said Mclaughlin, who is majoring in business administration with a concentration in finance. “Leadership goes into everything in life.”

He said he has enjoyed being able to focus on work and earn additional hours this summer. When classes start, he will be balancing both school and work. “Campus recreation understands that you have classes and that you’re a student first,” he said.

“During the school year, it’s really different,” Mclaughlin said. “It’s a lot more hectic with more people coming in. You could have a maxed-out gym with so many people in here.”

He said his favorite things are meeting people and the flexibility that the job provides. “I do see a lot of the same people, but I’ve met so many new people. It’s one of the best things about this job,” Mclaughlin said.

Junior Zaya Usher from Brooklyn, New York, is a facility manager, sports supervisor and fitness attendant with campus recreation. She said the professional staff value her opinions and have helped her grow as a person. They also understand if a last-minute meeting or assignment for school happens, which her previous off-campus position wasn’t willing to accommodate.

Usher, who is majoring in psychology with a minor in criminal justice, started last year and has seen the ebb and flow of facility use throughout the year.

“I never really realized how quiet the rec could be until I worked over the summer,” Usher said. “It’s just a different perspective from going from courts filled to very peaceful.”

The lull has allowed her to get to know her coworkers and patrons better. “You get more interactions now that there’s less people,” she said. “There are so many little hidden gems that you wouldn’t expect to happen. Like connecting with a teacher that you had a year or two ago and having them become a mentor.”

Brynn Miller, a senior environmental studies major from Washington, is interning with ECU Sustainability, which she was able to continue from spring semester.

Her projects include digitizing files and collecting information about waste to help determine which vehicles would be good candidates to replace with electric vehicles; STARS certification; updating the ECU Tree Trail map (PDF) and inventory for a paper brochure and ArcGIS; and tabling at new student orientation and other campus events.

Miller also has learned how an auto shop works and how cars operate, presentation skills, email etiquette and how to market herself in a professional environment.

“I have been working between 30-35 hours a week and I feel prepared for the transition from school to a more traditional 8-5 job,” she said. “I can also appreciate how much manpower goes into each and everything that happens on campus. Every project, every renovation, every event, takes so many hours and so many different people, it’s something I took for granted before.”

It’s been nice to be on campus during the summer. “Traffic isn’t nearly as bad, and I can park wherever I want. I have also had the opportunity to connect with campus staff that I wouldn’t have been able to during the regular school year,” she said.