I am a first-year student, and I am currently working as a Health Ambassador on campus. Some might say, “you just said that first-year students find it difficult to get a job. How did you find a job in your first year? Not only did I manage to pull a few strings and find a minimum wage paid job, I began working on the very first day of the fall semester and I am also providing my services by helping to keep the community safe and secure from the pandemic. “How did you begin working on the very first day considering that you did not know anyone in that town?”, you may ask. I attended the Orientation seminars arranged for us by the amazing students of Mount Allison. Since I am international, I was given the opportunity to attend a few more orientation seminars which truly enhanced my knowledge on what I could expect in the next few months or so.  

You might further wonder, “That’s great you were given the opportunity to work in your first year but how do you protect the people from the pandemic?”, That my friends are the responsibilities that come with the Health Ambassador position. I am required to patrol the buildings around campus throughout the week (when I get a shift that is) and ensure that students are adhering to the rules set by the university, town, and public health; that is, I ensure that all students are working with their masks on. If a student fails to corporate, I will further contact security who will deal with the student. That is the gist of my job. The best part of the job is that me and my partner are given the chance during our shift to work on assignments and catch up on other schoolwork; isn’t that a tremendous job! We are requited to clock in when we begin our shift which runs for around three-four hours depending on the shift you took up and every hour we are required to patrol the assigned buildings. This does sound like a fascinating job, doesn’t it? This position was not available before the pandemic obviously, so, I would consider myself fortunate enough to be able to make this transition to university and get a job as good as this one which not only benefits me but also the community. 

As I mentioned earlier, first years find it quite hard to get a job on campus, which is why when I started working as a Health Ambassador as soon as school started, most of my partners were second-fourth year students who would often throw the same question at me, “you’re a first year! How did you get this job?”. All students may not be lucky enough to get a job that quickly as they make their transition to university but do not be discouraged as your fate may eventually turn around. My advice would be to gain all the information you need to know about university life from the new student Orientation seminars organized before the semester starts. Those seminars helped me find this amazing job and I cannot find a reason why one will not find it helpful.