When you go to the dining center, have you ever wondered why there are employees in green t-shirts and how they are different from all the other workers in the white t-shirts? Well these are the employees who are students, but are trusted to supervise the hourly student workers while running the shifts on their own when no supervisors are there. These employees have been given the title of trainers and they are rewarded with this position after all the hard work they have put in, and are proven to be leaders by supervising other workers. To get a deeper insight about these trainers, I had an interview with one of the trainers in Corbett, Alex Ponce, who is an air traffic control major and has been working in Corbett for three years.
When asked about his the responsibilities and workload of a trainer, Ponce replied, “There is a lot that goes behind the scenes for trainers. We have to make menus, keep track of the food that is being put out, talk to the classified — who are the salary-based employees — and train the hourlies if they don’t know something to do. We even have to close down in the night and I feel like to trust a student to do that is a big responsibility that the dining center provides.”
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Even though these are the many responsibilities they have to take, there are many benefits in being a trainer.
“Gaining the leadership experience from working here is a major benefit.,” Ponce said. “The trainers are supposed to be in charge which helps shape us professionally and helps us in building our resumes. Also working with the other trainers and the workers here is amazing because it feels like we all have a ethic when we work to provide the best service for all the students.” Along with the many benefits, there are a few challenges when working as a trainer.
“The fact that I am friends with my co workers makes it hard to supervise them but I really have to put aside the friendship when I have to ask them to do something,” Ponce said.
With all the hard work these employees in green put in, we don’t really get to see it. Being so young in college and having the position to supervise the students who may be even older than you, teaches these trainers great leadership skills, and gives motivation to the hourly paid workers to work as hard as the trainers, so they can one day have those positions.
