I don’t know what you might have heard about campus jobs, but I am here to address all the rumors—or maybe create more confusion… we’ll see! My knowledge of campus jobs before college was formed by outdated movies and TV shows, so I think real accounts of the jobs I’ve worked are a little more reliable.
Ushering
The resemblance between me and Wednesday from The Addams Family is completely coincidental
There are frankly too many musically talented people on Yale’s campus. With that, there are a plethora of concerts and performances that happen nearly every day. These concerts are well attended and require order, and that’s where I come in. Every few weeks, I wear a black outfit and prepare to stand outside an auditorium for 2-3 hours. A popular job on campus due to its demand for people, ushering allows students to work for hire for specific events. I signal attendees to the door, hand them programs, and say “Enjoy the show!” If people arrive late, I have the fun job of telling them to wait until the particular section of the performance is over and then letting them enter. One of the underrated parts of the job is getting to talk to other ushers, most being musicians themselves. I always sound silly saying I am majoring in biomedical engineering when they are talking about their musical studies. One particularly memorable concert was during parent’s weekend. I helped usher in many proud parents waiting to see their children on Woosley’s stage. Each parent was beaming with joy and pride; it was very endearing.
Editing bones
My view as I photoshop
I’ve written before about learning Photoshop and Illustrator through an art class, but now I want to talk about how I use these skills to get paid! I found a job listing requesting Photoshop skills and experience with scientific publications at large. A specific detail from the listing was that the work is more technical than creative but the best results have design elements that aid with the clear communication of information. My work with Yale Scientific Magazine is about clearly communicating scientific information through visuals, so I felt adequately prepared for this job. Now I’m officially working for the Yale Paleoarchaeology Laboratory (YPAL)! It is my own personal bit/joke to always say “I edit bones” and not elaborate when asked what I do on campus. It’s not an inaccurate description, just a little vague. To go against my bit, I shall elaborate: I open and crop existing photos of bone tools and format them (masking, removing backgrounds, enhancing lighting, etc.) for scientific publication. I find it relaxing to edit, listen to music, and chit-chat with the actual archeology students working beside me. It’s also fun to gawk at the bones that accompany me as I work. I am excited about the future work YPAL has to offer.
Department of Italian Studies Bursary student
This was my first and most beloved campus job. I was essentially an assistant to the administrator of the Italian Department, Ann. Ann is an incredibly busy woman, so twice a week I would sit beside her in her office and schedule emails, create flyers and newsletters, make copies, post said flyers around Humanities Quadrangle (HQ), and occasionally work on my homework whenever there was a lull in the work. If you have heard that campus jobs are just a way to get paid to do homework, this is only sometimes true in my experience. My second favorite work-related bit was to say “I work for the Italian department… and I never use any Italian.” This was largely true, but I did take Italian at Yale. The department professors with offices on the same floor as Ann would speak to me in their native language. I would respond accordingly: with subpar Italian. Ann was a lovely boss, even when I was a hectic mess. One fun fact is that she has her own farm and would bring in the fruits of her (gardening) labor, including tomatoes. These were some of the best cherry tomatoes I’ve ever had. I have nothing but lovely things to say about our Department of Italian Studies.
Writing for the blog
My view as I work on this blog
This is both a fun pastime and something I get compensated to do! I forget that this is technically a job since I take it as an opportunity to catalog my college experience for you, my dear reader, and also selfishly for myself in the future. The other bloggers and I get together every once in a while and discuss blog ideas over food. They’re all lovely people! My mom always asks what topic I’m writing about next, so that’s how you know it’s a real job.
Psych Studies
Now this is something I haven’t done yet, but I’ve done the screening calls, so that counts. Much like musicians, we also have a lot of scientists on campus. Life-changing work is being done across Yale’s many labs, and they need participants to test their experimental science. I have friends who have been paid to get their brains scanned. Hopefully, I’ll experience being a lab guinea pig and getting my brain scanned before I graduate. So far, I’ve only spoken to lab people over the phone to say I am interested, then became too busy to follow through. Typical Yalie.
Honorable mention of other paid opportunities I have pursued that I have already discussed in previous blogs: Patient Modeling and Buttery Worker!
