Many Wash. U. students hold part-time jobs on campus and oftentimes earn the same wages, despite each job mandating a different level of time and skill. Students tell their stories of the best and worst on-campus job experiences.

Sophomore Aileen Ren, a chemistry residential peer mentor, said, “There are definitely times when I wish I could be doing something else, such as on nights with events or before my own exams, but I absolutely love my job as an RPM.” She claimed that “working with the [general chemistry] students…is by far the best part.” Ren added that having first-pick housing in her assigned residential college is another benefit to her job. But there are some downsides to her job: “The time commitment is really large; it takes up three nights a week on a rigid schedule. There are also many other obligations involved beyond showing up for office hours, such as relearning old material, making quiz review sheets, holding exam review sessions and logging hours.” She elaborated that “there isn’t as much homework time during office hours as you would expect.” The only thing Ren wished to change about her job is the “large turnover rate year to year,” but she noted that this issue is something “the chemistry department hopes to change.”

Freshman Kenny Chin is a research assistant in posttranscriptional gene expression at the Washington University School of Medicine, where he conducts experiments for his mentor. “I enjoy it most of the time,” Chin said. “It’s interesting and provides me with biology laboratory skills, but it can be repetitive at times.” He added, “I would change the time to make it more flexible if I could.”

Freshman Nana Nimako, a research assistant for the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine, said she “doesn’t have a problem” with her job. “I get to work my own hours since I can work from my dorm. I remove data from one area to another on an Excel sheet. But I have to force myself to do the work because it’s not like I’m going to a certain building to do work.” She added, “I get paid more than minimum wage just for entering data, so I’m pretty content with my job.”

Junior Michele Hall loves her job as a fitness center monitor at the South 40 Fitness Center. “I swipe people in, make sure everyone is safe, clean the machines and sign people in for classes.” Hall said that there is always someone willing to sub in and that her job is convenient because she lives on the South 40. She added, “There’s lots of time to do homework as long as I’m still doing my job.” The only drawback? “Opening the gym for people who come exactly at seven [o’clock].”

Becca Christman, a freshman student assistant at the Gaylord Music Library, enjoys the convenient hours that come with a library that isn’t open for 24 hours and added, “There is a lot of time to do homework on the clock when I’m not shelving or checking out books. The environment is also fairly stress-free. I make minimum wage, and there are obviously part-time jobs out there where I could be making more money, but for the work I’m doing, I’d say I’m getting paid accordingly.” She admitted, “It would be fun to work at Olin [Library], though. I would get to see people that I know more often.”

Sindhu Manivasagam, a junior working as a chemistry Peer-Led Team Learning leader, is genuinely enthusiastic about her job: “I’ve had other jobs tutoring students, and I enjoy helping students out. I’m also a chemistry major.” When asked if the thought of general chemistry student anxiously solving problems over the weekend bothered her, Manivsagam asserted that she enjoys working with them. Besides running one two-hour session every Saturday, Manivasagam meets on Fridays with other PLTL leaders to go over that week’s problems from 3-5 p.m. but notes, “It rarely ever takes that long.”