The role of the Social Media and Office Student Assistant is to manage all used social media platforms, and help around the office. The title itself is self-explaining, but still manages to hide the amount of responsibility that goes along with the job. I have been fulfilling this role since October 2018, and it still surprises me to find more to this job than just scheduling tweets and drafting Facebook posts. I couldn’t properly describe a normal day to you, as everyday is a little different than the last. Right when I think I’ve met everyone I need to know, someone else will walk in and introduce themselves. The moment I believe I know everything there is to know about targeting audiences and such, Ashley Simon will message me with ways I can grow and improve. This job that seemed so simple, seems to always be traversing into exciting new territory for me.
I had never actually heard of the Center of Community Engagement until I was applying for the job. I am currently double majoring in English with a concentration in Literature and Business with a concentration in Marketing, as I am hoping to break into the publishing industry. This is why I wanted to find a job that would expose me to some form of branding or outreach. Since I have another job on campus, I felt I had some leeway to take my time and search for the perfect job. However, I was beginning to lose hope when after a month I hadn’t been offered any interviews. It’s important to not get discouraged during times of strife though. It’s very easy to relate struggles with getting a job to personal qualifications and worthiness. This is not the case! There just happen to be other undergraduate students with the same ambitions, and we can’t all get that perfect job. With some patience and faith, I was finally offered an interview at the Center of Community Engagement, and eventually my job!
I did research about the CCE before my interview, but my views on it are constantly reshaping through my work. I read a lot of old blog posts about people who have worked here, or were somehow involved with us. Everyone has their own experiences and outlook, but they all share a common thread: commitment and passion to the values of the CCE. Some of them were able to realize these passions through their service, others already had them and were allowed to nourish them. I think I fall in with the latter. I find every day working at the CCE I am even more grateful than the last to work at a place that emphasizes the importance of Sustainability, Diversity, and Social Justice.
The experience I have gained has been invaluable to me. I try to apply everything I am learning here to my daily life. The best part for me though is being able to interact with my community around me. Without the CCE, I wouldn’t know about all of the amazing opportunities to engage in that have been surrounding me since I began at Sonoma State. I look forward to learning more.