Defining Boundaries: An Interview with a Graduated Centenary Student Worker
Student workers inhabit unique positions on a college campus. At Centenary, their contributions are invaluable to the continued successful operation of the school. On one hand, they are workers expected to fulfill the duties of their position. They have job standards to maintain, an image to uphold, and are given a breadth of responsibility more on par with full-time careers. While on the other hand, they are simply students (most barely out of high school), who are just taking a job so that they can afford the bare minimum standard of living while pursuing a rigorous standard of education. At Centenary, our student workers serve not only as students, friends, and peers, but as counselors, babysitters, disciplinarians, emergency personnel, and so much more.
The purpose of this article is not to disparage the Centenary administration, student or residence life offices, but to highlight the aspects of that ‘so much more,’ that may complicate a student worker’s everyday life. We’ve heard, so often in these last few years--throughout quarantine, forever changing policies, and a Snow-poca-lypse—complaints about these workers, made by fellow students. So much so, that the rhetoric surrounding these positions has largely changed from “fellow student (and friend) who is just doing their job” to “disciplinarian figure that wants to ruin my life (or, at least, my day).” Therefore, our aim in the proceeding interview is not to speak for the experience of every student worker on Centenary’s campus, but to show the experience of one in the hopes of reminding everyone that, at the end of the day, these people are just students too.
For legal purposes, exact job descriptions and names have been left intentionally non-descript:
Q: We’ve heard a lot of things, especially last semester, about how all of the COVID restrictions were affecting ‘student workers,’ and that people in your position were kind of taking the brunt of it. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
A: I’ll speak for both semesters. Last year in general was tough because it was our first semester [fall of 2020] back with COVID. Restrictions were very tight, and a lot of expectations were put on us. To the point where we were responsible for making sure that the entire student body followed the rules to maintain a standard of safety. We had to enforce the mask policy, make sure there was no close distance socializing going on (outside of pre-approved people). There were specific restrictions implemented about guests on campus, and a limit to how many people could be indoors at any given time, and we were responsible for enforcing it all. The issue that came up is that our peers—It’s a small institution. Everyone knows everybody. So, me telling you, “Hey, you need to do A, B, & C,” caused a very aggressive interaction between us and our peers, and it just grew this gap between us as a disciplinary group and the rest of the student body. It got to the point where I think we were seen less as students and more as like, “college officials.”
Q: How are things going this year, so far? COVID is far from over with new variants emerging every other week. Has it gotten any better? Any worse?
A: …As far as this year goes, it’s a lot better so far. [Laughs] I’m not going to lie, my mental health last year was way, way worse than this year—but I think there are still a lot of things that need to be fixed and improved upon. Specifically, the aggression that we face when we try to enforce these rules. We’re expected to enforce these rules, but it’s not just us. Workers in every aspect of campus have to help maintain student safety…Like in the dining hall, for instance…Sodexo workers have to make sure that people have masks on when they’re getting out of their seats, and when they’re going to get food, basically anytime they’re not actively eating. They’re required to make sure people (not just students) have their masks on, and it turns into aggression between students and workers. Sometimes the workers are so afraid to even communicate that someone has to pull up their mask, because in the past they’ve experienced students overly-exaggerating the situation and causing them to lose their job—
Q: Wait. That’s happened before? At Centenary?
A: Yes. This has happened before. It just, this situation causes this wedge. To the point where things have gotten so out of control with the student body that preemptive measures have had to be put in place. Dining hall workers have started to have to turn un-masked people around at the door, just to avoid a potential confrontation that could have repercussions on their job. This exaggerated rule had to be put in place because students were circumventing the more lax rules by going and getting a mask from a friend—so they could get in the building—and then taking it off once they were inside.
This aggression between the student body and workers on campus that can implement disciplinarian action, has created this toxic and unsanitary culture where students do anything they can to do what they want (regardless of safety) and avoid a write-up.
Q: Okay, so I know you guys have ‘zones’ where you have to be disciplinarians. I’ve had experiences with friends…Because, you know, you get to a certain year at Centenary, and you inevitably have friends that are ‘student workers’… But I’ve had friends that have had enforce rules outside of their traditional zones of coverage. Is that something that comes in the contract for your position? Are you just told, “Hey, you have to enforce rules in locations X, Y, and Z,” or are you just told to enforce rules all over campus? How does that work?
A: So, for me, boundaries are my life. I don’t know, specifically, where in the contract they define are zones. I know if we’re in the Greek houses—I think we have to report policy violations? But, personally, I try not to put myself in those kinds of positions.
Q: Because it’s awkward for you as a student—
A: Yeah, it puts you in a very isolating situation! When I’m off-campus, and there’s something going on, I consider myself to be off duty. That hat comes off in the minute I’m off Centenary’s campus. It’s got to, otherwise it can get really toxic. Those that can’t separate from the job—it burns them out. I know a couple of people who were sticklers at first, but they’ve backed down so much.
Q: Because you lose friends?
A: That, and it feels impossible when you’re not backed up by your staff. That’s a complaint that I’ve voiced recently. I was upset at the lack of communication in administration—the tension trickles down to us because we are also considered administration, too. It becomes a lot and it can get to be overwhelming.
Q: I mean, yeah, I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be considered administration—to be a student and be considered administration on campus—
A: Where there is only five hundred of us!
Q: There’s only five hundred of us and you’re supposed to embody this role as a student and as an ‘administrator?’ For a section of this campus, you’re an administrator and for the others you’re a student? I have a feeling that could get complicated.
A: It does! Even with having friends among students on campus. They think like, “Oh, you’re my friend and I can break this rule and you won’t bust me.” No, that’s just not the case. I define my boundaries off-campus, but when I’m on it? This is my job. It’s how I pay my tuition and how I get through school. I can’t lose my job just because we’re friends.
Q: I imagine it’s hard to make and keep friends with you job potentially on the line?
A: It is, it’s hard to find a balance. I know that the relationship between me and the student body as a whole is different now.
Q: Different how?
A: Like I mentioned before, it seems very aggressive now. I experienced an incident at the beginning of this school year where I had to enforce COVID protocol with another student. The student didn’t know me personally, and maybe that was the problem? But instead of just complying with the campus wide protocol, they escalated the situation to a level of aggression that made me uncomfortable, especially since I was just trying to do my job. And, you know, that’s not an isolated moment? It’s happened to me, it’s happened to the workers in the caf, and it’s happened to my co-workers who are also just trying to do their jobs.
I’ve been told it’s mainly the global circumstances of the last two years that have caused so many issues with the position. But I’m going to be honest…and I’ve told my supervisor this…if I could quit and still keep my benefits and afford to get through school, I would in a heartbeat. I just can’t.
Q: Can I ask about the benefits for this position? Everyone tends to have an idea of what they are, but I don’t think it’s ever been explicitly stated.
A: So, everyone’s benefits look different. I personally get a refund check because before I took the position, I was paying $1,000 a semester. I’m a first-generation college student. Prior to taking this position, I was working three different jobs off-campus just to afford to go to Centenary. Working those jobs, being an active members of organizations on-campus, and keeping-up with my schoolwork—it was super, super intensive. It was draining my physical and mental health. Taking this job and getting the traditional benefits meant I no longer had to pay anything to the school—but there is still a cost. A mental cost. A very expensive cost.
Q: Let me see if I understand this correctly—sometimes compensation for this job goes to tuition, but you have actual salaries? Like bi-weekly salaries, right?
A: No! Our traditional benefits—the perks that everyone talks about—they’re considered our salary. We get a small yearly stipend on top of it, but that’s it.
Q: That doesn’t seem worth it, honestly.
A: It has its moments. See, the thing is, I can do this job. I can do this job, and I can do it well. That’s never been the problem for me, it’s the lack of boundaries. It’s too much.
Q: Can I ask for an example? Because I know everyone in your position has their horror stories.
A: Yeah, so, there are a lot of times where, if another student is going through something mentally, they’re expected to go to us first. Or we’re expected to go to them.
Q: So, you’re responsible, in a way, for other students’ mental health?
A: Absolutely!
Q: If something happens, if another student does something under your ‘watch’…
A: We’re supposed to recognize the signs first. We actually have training—very intense, but very short, training—about all of the signs to look out for and who to reach out to if we notice anything.
Q: You wouldn’t have any official repercussions, though, if you missed a sign. Would you?
A: No. Nothing official. But to be honest with you, we would probably do it to ourselves. We’ve been told it’s our job to notice these things. If we miss something, and another student gets hurt because of a failure on our part…that’s a lot of responsibility to deal with. If something happens…you know…we’re students too, and it can be very traumatic for us.
Q: You guys, you take a lot of weight on yourselves—and you’re expected to take a lot of weight on yourselves. That just, it doesn’t seem worth-it? It seems so unfair?
A: Yeah, definitely, but from my understanding (and not to defend this), I was told that this is a normal situation for people across America in my position. It’s so normalized. Like, all people in this position are over-extended. In our contract, if the entire student body gets sent home, for whatever reason, we’re considered emergency personnel and have to stay on campus. We have to be on campus through whatever happens.
Q: And that was the case during the Snow-poca-lypse?
A: Yep. There was a majority of us who were snowed out of the school before things got bad—so we were short-staffed from the beginning. We were still required to do our jobs in the snow.
Q: Where you allowed to choose to go home?
A: No. If you were on campus, then you were on campus, and you weren’t allowed to leave.
Q: What would have happened if you’d left? Theoretically, would you have been fired?
A: I doubt it, because at the time there was nothing in our contract concerning snow. We’re a school in Louisiana—no one ever thought to plan for it! The only thing that was required at the time was that we had to stay on campus throughout anything COVID-related. There was nothing for snow, that got implemented this year…But we were still expected to do our jobs in the cold through a power and water outage…We had to respond to calls. They had us bringing water to other students. They also asked us to do photo optics. That was especially irritating because important members of administration were left largely unaware of what the conditions were like on campus because of how they were displayed on social media. They didn’t know why we were so angry and tired…
Q: You had a right to be. The last two years have been hard on all of us—but, I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like to work your job, under these circumstances. With these things in mind, and the level of aggression you’ve experienced from other students on campus, do you feel that there’s an adequate recourse that’s been communicated to you about what to do in situations where you feel like you’re in danger? Situations that you feel as though threaten your personal safety?
A: All they tell us is to call DPS.
Q: That’s the end of it? Call DPS?
A: That, and if they’re hitting don’t engage.
Q: If someone gets violent towards you, and you fight back, would you be fired?
A: Tune in. Hasn’t happened yet, but we’ll see. We never really know what’s going to happen in any given disciplinary action. Who is going to get in trouble? Will the other student be reprimanded, or will we? That honestly does get to me. The disrespect we’re expected to take and the lack of backup—it’s like we’re expected to be the campus punching bags. They never put that in the fine print.
Q: This isn’t even a traditional job, from what you said. You don’t get paychecks! You get one benefit for the year and that’s it.
A: Exactly! We get a benefit that is supposed to sustain us throughout the entire school year, and I don’t think people realize that. I don’t think other students realize that. We need that benefit to continue pursuing our education, so we can’t quit our job, but we do not want to get other people in trouble! We don’t like the paperwork and we don’t like having to be the bad guy! We don’t live to get you in trouble. We all have lives. We’re all involved in other things on campus. We’re all students, too. I don’t think about you at night!
Q: [Can we publish that? “I don’t think about you at night?”]
A: PLEASE!
Q: We will, we will. Is there anything you want to add? Any miscommunications you want to clarify? Anything you want students to know?
A: I just really want students to know that the majority of us are in this position because it pays our way for school. We all know how expensive Centenary is. What we do isn’t personal, it is a job. Unfortunately, though, we’re at a disadvantage and overextending, I think what would make this job easier is if we had grace from the student body. Administration is always going to be administration. But as a student, you’re in the same boat as me. I would appreciate it if we got a little bit more room to be understood, because I feel like we just don’t get that. It’s not something administration can fix, in my opinion. I feel like that’s on the students to turn around and understand that I’m just trying to do my job. I’m trying to graduate just like you. Step outside yourself for a second and see it from my perspective…that’s important to me. I feel like, as students, we could support each other more, and be more understanding of each other.
Q: You’re right. With that in mind, is there anything you want to add in support of the job?
A: You meet people you would never talk to without the job. I think that’s so golden. You know everyone! More importantly, I think what I love the best is that even though I don’t have support from the student body, there is somewhere I can go. This job has given me a number of friends who are just trying to do the same job and they’re going through the same things…Even though we don’t always get along (we’re not the Brady Bunch!), I absolutely know that they’re there if I need them. We’re a family, in a lot of ways…So, yeah, if I can say anything, it’s that the built-in friendships are the most rewarding part of this job.
