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Graduate Survey. Supervisors Meeting August 13, 2008. Work at Warren Wilson. Work after Warren Wilson. Fulfillment of Mission. Warren Wilson Graduates Speak. raw and unedited.
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Graduate Survey Supervisors Meeting August 13, 2008
Warren WilsonGraduates Speak raw and unedited
The Farm Crew (all three positions) allowed me to develop new skills (i.e. castration) that have been useful in the workplace and life in general.
Working with Dean Jensen, Miss Martin and Mr. Grey helped me develop a real attention to detail and encouraged me to build a strong work ethic.
With each crew I gained both work skills and a stronger work ethic. I learned to balance my time with study, work and leisure. What a great opportunity to learn skills and life. I cannot begin to tell you the influence that Ernst Laursen and other crew chiefs had on my life.
Donna Price was the toughest person I had ever met. She made me want to work incredibly hard to achieve the high level she set.
I enjoyed every single work crew I was on. They all helped me to learn the work ethic and consistency.
I think almost every crew could help strengthen a student's work ethic. I also think there are invaluable skills that will have had a significant impact on my life after Wilson that I don't even recognize yet.
All of my crews experiances were important and helped me become who I am today. I had a very strong work ethic before I came to WWC - the Work Program honed it.
It was the supervisors that had the most profound effect on me with their strong work ethics and loving guidance.
Working on the Landscaping crew (and being the crew boss for a summer) helped me see the benefits of a hard days work. To be able to actually see what you had accomplished after a long day was very beneficial.
This crew gave me the confidence in myself to try new things and stick with things even when they were physically or mentally difficult.
The Farm crew (Ernst Laursen) taught the importance/appreciation for simple hard work.
AS a dorm janitor, I learned to honor the incredible resilience and integrity of people who do repetitive manual labor with no hope of improving their situation.
on the farm, I learned to work very hard, work without being told what to do, I learned the value of work, I learned what a "team" could accomplish. I learned that hard work is valuable in itself - not just what it can accomplish.
All the jobs were valuable. I learned the value of team work, completion of a job, working independently when necessary, following instructions and respect for leaders in charge.
The WWC experience taught me to appreciate that, and the work program is a great training ground for accepting responsibility for a small part of the whole, and being able to see how our small part played such a big role in the health of our WWC community.
I think that working 15 hours a week and being in classes full time, while still being in a somewhat sheltered/safe place allowed me to learn how to juggle several schedules and to figure out how to competently do both.
working on the farm helped me to balance my life as a WWC student. It was helpful to spend time daily doing manual labor outdoors during every season.
The work crew experience itself was useful in general by providing a framework for learning such skills as multitasking and adaptation.
Crews where students can make their own schedule (like cleaning a dorm) are good for developing time management skills
As with many students, my work crew became part of my identity, which I think aided in making my experience at Warren Wilson, probably the best years of my life, to date. I gained skills that I have built upon and continue to use to this day.
The farm crew did have a huge impact on all the aspects listed above as well as aiding in personal growth. It was very challenging and made me realize I could do things that I would not have thought possible.
each crew had a progressive effect on work ethic, beginning from a sense of responsibility to a supervisor and those dependent on my work effort (motor pool, print shop, theater) to a more self-directed and internalized sense of responsibility to the idea of a job well-done (newspaper).
My work experience reinforced my sense of responsibility and enhanced my effectiveness as a supervisor for years to come.
Marjorie Ulin was an excellent role model for learning to think outside of ourselves though service.
The greatest influence in terms of work was the work service project in the Dominican Republic with Ian Robertson as leader. There were two observations/actions by Ian that have become my measure for my own work. One was Ian's observation that "volunteer" work is still work and should be done professionaly and with pride. And, related to that, is the fact that when Ian saw that the paid workers were starting work at 6:00, he changed our work period to more closely match theirs, starting work an hour earlier than we had been, at 7:00, and pointed out that we were still getting more sleep than the regular workers. In everything I do, I still use a measure of those who physically work hardest to evaluate my own efforts.
I worked three years on the landscape crew and learned a great deal about that work. I was given opportunities for leadership and developing an independent work ethic. During and after college, I worked landscape jobs to help support myself and I continue to garden outside of work. My public relations job is directly related to the bulk of my career in college advancement.
All of my work experience at WWC helped me work better in a team and gave me a chance to learn and hone leadership skills. I've also been better equipped for "on-the-job training" than many of my peers in the workplace since college.
Coach DeVries greatly aided my leadership skills and work ethic.
Pat Mehann wasn't just my boss, but a teacher as well. He taught me some great leadership and management skills.
I learned how to lead under difficult conditions and to overcome conflict with those from a different cultural background.
Work crews have a culture all their own. Being a part of the culture "down the hill" was an incredibly important part of my daily life. Going to work at the Physical Plant sometimes felt like why I was in school. It kept me grounded in the community when the challenges of being a student got to me. When I would head down to work, knowing Old Top's smiling face had nothing to do with the math test I just bombed felt like a balanced life. I could get away from stress for the afternoon and exercise different "muscles", which allowed me to see clearly that I had a range of strengths to feel good about. Some days I was a better locksmith than I was a student--sometimes it was the other way around. In this sense, Warren Wilson provided me with a learning model of how to balance my energies in different dimensions of my life--and why it's important to do so. Life at WWC was a daily reminder that I was always more than anything I was doing in the moment. I think that's really stuck with me.
Still use the writing, proofreading, editing, and layout skills learned
The organization and editing skills learnt while working at the International Programs office (and specifically on the ""Worldwide"" newsletter) prompted my Kansas City pastor to appoint me as chief editor of the church's monthly bulletin. I was also assigned a column in the quarterly newspaper of the Organization of Kenyans in Kansas City (OKKC)."
My time on the Echo gave me amazing access to the administration, honed my writing and layout skills, and taught me not to hire my best friends again. Ever.
The relationships I developed with my work crew co-workers and supervisors have helped me approach jobs in the outside world in a more thoughtful way, and some of those relationships remain today.
The Admissions Crew taught me office protocols, division of labor, and how a white collar organization functions. This was invaluable to me when I got into the working world.
The Work Program Office crew provided expereience and skills I still use today. The ability to balance crew, student, and school needs was a great challenge. The situations always required creative problem solving, and the policies provided guidance but not an inflexible path to meeting everyone's needs.
The crews gave me a reflective ability to look at the importance of the work relationship and the difficulties and joys that come along with that relationship. Working also gave me the ability to see the importance of observing different people/jobs and how to navigate personalities.
My work crew experience, combined with the overall triad program, has firmly established good time management skills. I have managed to keep many of my computer skills on the lowdown so as to not get shifted from the work I'm paid to do to saving my boss from his own Ludite self! Not to mention that being technologically savey has helped me conduct professional presentations and technical work without getting a case of the nerves. Furthermore, helping other people with their computer problems as a memeber of COS developed an ability to talk to, work with, help just about anybody. With some people it's all in the approach and having good people skills can help you acheice a great deal in life.
The Theatre crew showed me project management. Building a set, going to rehersal, and putting on multiple shows helped me see something through from beginning to end. What great fun it was working with creative Theatre-types too! "
I learned so many valuable skills working in the Admissions Office. I learned to speak in front of a group, how to write a thank you note, how to organize a system, how to plan events and that follow up is important.
I did handle most of the bulk of international students' admissions during the years 1992-94. It gave me a good understanding of office ettiquette and communications and problem-solving.
Alex Robb truly taught me how to problem solve. I think about my time on the plumbing crew and smile. Makes me want to send my kid to Wilson when he's older.
I always took care of my rental property plumbing needs. Problem analysis and solving strategies
