Well, I have officially finished my first school year at Lake Area Technical College! I learned a lot, met some awesome new people, and most of all, I had fun doing it. It was a challenge though, too. Starting a new job – especially such a hands on job – in the middle of a pandemic was a struggle all on its own. I lost track of how many times a coworker told me I chose a bad year to start this job. In a way, I agree! But it can only go up from here, right?? Dear Lord, I hope so.

Nonetheless, I took a lot out of my first year at LATC, and I’d like to share some of those with all of you. I’m certain some of these things can relate to almost any job out there, so you can take comfort in the fact that other people go through the same thing.

1. Learn From Failure.

Like I’ve mentioned before, it’s been incredibly hard to get students to come to some of my events. Even though it probably has more to do with Covid than failing, it still feels like a failure to me because that’s literally my job! There’s been a good number of events I’ve had to cancel, or get everything set up and ready to go and no one comes. It’s incredibly disappointing and almost always puts me in a bad mood. But luckily, I’ve been able to talk to a few students about some of the events and they’ve given me some good insight on why they may not be well attended, and what I could to do in the future. I’ve already got some ideas forming for the fall, and I now have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t, so I’m confident it will go better. And now that Covid is becoming more manageable, I’m hoping next year will look a little more normal. Everyone goes through “failures” of their own. It sucks, but it’s normal. Learn from them and move on!

2. Patience is key.

I’ve mentioned this a whole bunch in past posts, but it really has become one of the biggest things I’ve taken from this job. There have been times where I constantly have to remind myself to take a deep breath and just take things in stride. I was a college kid once too, I totally get where it all comes from. Many of them are young and still kind of stupid. (Sounds like an insult, but let’s be real haha! Looking back at what I was doing Freshman year of college, I was pretty stupid too!) I’ve had students who will complain to me about things going on in their life. Even though I sometimes have to wonder why they’re telling me these things or why they go into SO MUCH DETAIL, it’s still part of my job. Even though sometimes it’s frustrating, I also have to remind myself that if they’re coming to me with these complaints, then they know they can trust me. I just have to remind myself to be patient with some people. That would be the case with any job!

3. There’s always that ONE person.

Finally, I’ve come to realize that no matter what kind of activity I do, there is always going to be that one person who is going to complain. One hard pill I’ve had to swallow this year is that I am not going to please everyone, no matter how hard I try. It was hard to accept at first, but with each activity I do, it becomes easier and easier to deal with. Whether the prizes for this activity aren’t enough to make it worth their while, or I ordered the wrong kind of FREE pizza, it’s always something. I’m just going to keep working my butt off, and if the majority of students enjoy what I am doing, then that’s what matters. That goes for just about anything anywhere. No matter what you do, you’re not going to please EVERYONE. You might as well just accept it!

With that said, I’d like to also thank everyone who has helped me throughout the school year. Whether you physically helped me set things up, or encouraged me to keep trying after a failed event, I couldn’t have done it without you! I am so looking forward to what next year has in store, and hopefully continue to learn new things everyday. Happy finals week to LATC students and to those graduating, good luck on all your future endeavors!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger