By Mary Nussbaumer
Welcome to the Job Feature Series, a weekly column highlighting student workers around campus. If you work a little-known job on campus, have horror stories from a difficult shift, or single-handedly keep the school running, contact Mary at m_nussbaumer@colo- radocollege.edu. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
MN: What are you involved in on campus aside from being an Admission Fellow? ZL: I am the co-chair of Dance Workshop (I also dance in the show), I’m involved at In- novation, and I am the new member chair of Kappa Kappa Gamma.
MN: Do you find it hard to balance all of these commitments?
ZL: Yes, but for all of these things I have a team supporting me at all times, which makes
it a lot easier.
MN: Why and when did you start working as an Admission Fellow?
ZL: I started my junior year. I really wanted the position because I’m a psych major and
I want to work with people, possibly as a therapist or counselor. It can be really hard to
get undergrad experience for confidentiality reasons. I found this as a great opportunity
to develop my interpersonal skills and get that exposure to help me in the future. I also
really like helping people figure out where they want to go to school and what they want
to do — I find these conversations very meaningful.
MN: What is the time commitment for being an Admission Fellow?
ZL: The job entails interviewing prospective students, talking to their families, leading info sessions, and student projects. This means that the time commitment fluctuates – we are busier in the fall. I would estimate 10-15 hours a week in the fall and 5-10 in the spring.
MN: What is your staff like?
ZL: I love the whole Office of Admission! The professional staff is really dedicated to
making this terrible process the best it can be. I got really lucky with the Fellow team. I
was already friends with many of them. We represent a lot of different areas of campus
with so many different passions and majors — it shows how CC values individuality in
its students.
MN: What is your favorite part?
ZL: I like getting to answer the questions of students and their families because I get
to hear what they are passionate about. I enjoy that I can help guide them through the
process and give them an individual introduction to CC. When I was applying, I thought
of college as a black hole ahead of me, so I like getting to help others in any way I can. By
doing interviews, I can make the process a bit more holistic because the paper applica-
tion can leave out so many important aspects of a person.
MN: What is your least favorite part?
ZL: Definitely hearing the logistics of admission. It is becoming increasingly competitive
and disproportionately affecting so many people. It can be really hard to find out a stu-
dent I really connected with did not get in, but it’s all a part of the process. It can make
me really pessimistic, but I’m glad I can have some influence, even if it’s small.