Just as I seem to do every year, I went into this summer with high expectations -- but, in my defense, they were justified. Unlike past years, I would be living and working on campus for the summer, and by chance, it seemed like nearly all of my closest friends would be doing the same.
From Conference and Events' Services (like myself and a couple of others I knew prior) to Admissions, I anticipated a summer full of working with friends, utilizing campus all to ourselves and continuing right where the school year left off. In other words, I was shamelessly expecting this summer to be a lot like "High School Musical 2," just with less synchronized choreography. While I can only speak from my own personal experience at Stonehill, here's what it's like to live and work on a college campus during the summer.
To begin with, campus still has all the same services it does during the school year - but tweaked. You can still eat through the Commons, but unlike the school year, you need to pay a flat rate of $9 for a limited selection of food. You can also still use the Sports Complex, but chances are, the hours they're open are the exact hours you're in work. You'll be living in a sweltering hot building neck deep in the woods since the air-conditioned ones are reserved, and you'll probably be constantly maneuvering around construction and renovations, like with this year's Duffy lot project.
Contrary to popular belief, campus is far from being quiet in the summer. Working for Stonehill's event planning committee, I quickly learned that on any given week, campus is busier than it is during the school year with nearly 15,000 guests by the end of the season. There's conferences, sports camps and over a dozen other groups coming in and out. We host quite the variety, too: from seven-year-old baseball players, to 70-year-old conferees, to kids from Bridgewater and kids from Beijing and the Netherlands.
I made connections with people I never imagined I would. The staff members and custodians I would normally pass are the same people I'm now on a first name basis with. I've worked alongside members of facilities, Sodexo, IT, media relations and even the President's office. I've had the opportunity to meet people outside the Stonehill community, like on-site managers of other locations and directors of foreign programs.
And based on what I've seen from practically being housekeeping for our conferees in New Hall, make sure you always thank the cleaning staff when you see them.
With all that being said, I absolutely loved working at Stonehill during the summer. No matter how stressed, frustrated or on the verge of a nervous breakdown I always seemed to be, I loved my job and the people I worked with. It's weird to think that in less than a week I won't be spending nearly 11 hours a day with these people, especially since we don't know just how many of us will be returning next year, but I can honestly say that this summer was one to remember, and we certainly left our mark on Conference and Events.
So for my fellow CESO staff members, here's to: the Haitian Convention, GRC, #FreeTheKnee, squading up in the 8-pass, Wumbus, our constant whining, lunch duty, the electrocuted squirrel that cost thousands of dollars in damage, Brett Winters, supervising 4AM barbecues, the super secret underground desk, Larry Day, golf cart #10, stripping in New Hall, finding "marijuana stems" and announcing it over the radio to campo, linens, the CESCO group chat and so much more. As Mark Sabina once said, "It's been lit."
