EvyJo Compton
Staff Writer
(Left to Right) Front: Zayd Malick; Middle: Shahad Alsayyad, Lauren Briggs, Sisay Eisenmenger, Michael Poole; Behind: Tom Caufield, Isaac Tabor
Student Life is a part of Parkland College that offers many opportunities and services to the students and staff at Parkland, including a prayer room, club meetings, an ID center and work spaces for students to study.
“We offer where you can get your student ID, there’s a prayer room, and a meditation room,” Chaya Sandler, program manager of Student Life, said. “We also have a room for breastfeeding, and where you can weigh yourself in the health room. We have space for student clubs to reserve to have meetings or student study groups can come here.”
Sandler added, “It’s…a place for clubs and students to congregate. We have a Keurig, [that] if people bring their own k-cups and [we] can put them in there. There are two microwaves here cleaned by student workers.”
Sandler is not the only staff member that works in Student Life. Director Thomas Caulfield and Secretary Sarah Minyard are also a part of Student Life.
“Sarah Minyard works on getting vehicles for student clubs,” Sandler stated. “We do orientation, and we help students with registering for classes and technology.”
Along with Sandler, Minyard and Caulfield, there are student workers that are employed by Student Life, who are available to answer questions, make college-issued IDs, and show students where to register for classes.
“We have student workers that help our professional staff,” Sandler said. “They are here during the week to make sure that there is always someone here to help.”
Isaac Tabor, a second semester employee, is one of the many student workers hired by Student Life.
“I sit at the desk and fill the orientation folders that you get when you first arrive at Parkland. I answer the phone regarding calls about the school,” Tabor said. “I make IDs for everybody.”
Not only does Tabor work behind the desk, he also helps students.
“When students come for their SOAR or orientation, a lot of the people need help registering for classes,” he said. “Also, we also take them around the school and help them find their classes. We sometimes wear badges that say ‘ask me’ so students know that they can ask us for help.”
SOAR refers to Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration, a program coordinated by Student Life which in a single day gets incoming students appointments with academic advisers and registers them for their first classes at Parkland.
Student Life benefits the students who work there by allowing them to work to pay off their tuition.
“Usually, we have work study positions for students that start a few months before the semester starts,” Sandler said. “Currently, we only employ work study positions.”
Students working for Student Life receive many workplace and interpersonal experiences in a convenient setting as well.
“I like how this is right at the school, and how it is scheduled right before or right after my classes,” Tabor said. “There are a lot of new people I get to meet who come through here.”
Jobs at student life also give students the ability to fully immerse themselves in Parkland while enjoying a fun environment.
“I think our student worker and professional staff’s information is the most important. So, because Parkland is so big and spread out, Student Life is a central place for students to come to,” Sandler stated. “It is a fun kind of job, because student workers get to learn all about campus, versus just one specific part of Parkland. You have to have a lot of knowledge about Parkland to work here.”
Tabor seconds Sandler’s thoughts regarding Student Life’s atmosphere.
“Student Life has a fun environment,” Tabor said. “It has a very calm environment for students to come into and relax.”
For more information, go online to parkland.edu/studentlife or visit Student Life in room U111 between 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday.
