Combining the Past to Create a Future
I never thought that the first job I ever had would also be the start to my first career in higher education.
In May of 2002 I graduated 8th grade from Dillon Middle School in Dillon, MT. Braces on just the top teeth and heading into Beaverhead County High School (BCHS) for my Freshman year starting August….I was pretty much a man……and needed a job. That’s what men do right? Get jobs when they grow up.
Dillon is a small enough town and funding at BCHS was such that driver’s education was only offered in the summer. I was turning 15 in July and was one of the older kids for my grade. Because of that, I was able to get into Driver’s Ed while most of my classmates were too young and a majority of the group were in-coming sophomores. That meant mornings were taken up in class or in one of the country’s oldest simulators (it was something straight out of the 1970’s and had the big Buick style steering wheels) or on the road driving. So my mornings were shot and I could only work half days.
“Where the heck am I going to be able to work half days?” I thought. Luckily, one of my best friends and mentors (I call him my big brother), Eric, was the Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Montana – Western. He had been with U of M – Western for four years ascending from Assistant Dean of Student Affairs (2 years) after having worked 8 years as a Hall Director (5 years), Assistant Hall Director (2 years) and Residence Assistant (RA - 1 year) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “You want to work at UM – Western buddy?” He asked…..and I said “sure.”
And there it began, Driver’s Ed in the morning and working at Montana -Western in the afternoon. I was part of the Paint and Maintenance crew (which was part of Facilities which reported to Eric). $5.15 per hour, 20 hours per week, painting white on already white dorm room walls......
My first day, I was also given the “privilege” of mowing Eric’s lawn (part of his compensation package was a house on campus). After being shown what to do, I pulled the rip cord to the lawn mower, it broke, and was sucked up into the engine……… 20 minutes on the job and into my career, I broke the f****n' lawn mower! “I’m going to be fired……I’m done……I’ve been here for 20 minutes and I’m already out of a job.” I was thinking as I walked the "walk of shame" back to the facilities garage. No one reacted at all, they just gave me a trash bag and I had to walk around campus emptying ash trays the rest of the day. The tone was set...
Needless to say the rest of the summer was routine. I passed Driver’s Ed and got my learner’s permit while learning the ropes at Western.
In 2003, I decided to go back to Western “full time." A 15-cent raise got me $5.30 per hour and I was pretty well versed in painting white on white. A trip to Hawaii, Griz Camp in Missoula, MT for football, and other days off based on my 16 year old schedule, I'm sure I worked just a little bit more than in 2002.
“If you’re going to come back next year you’ll need to give us a full summer.” Eric said. My manager, Wayne, and Montana – Western in general, were really flexible with me. But they were right….I needed to truly commit. So I did. The summer of 2004, I was a workin’ man, minus a trip to Peru, making $5.45 an hour and had the tenure to drive around the facilities cart. My co-worker that year was a soon to be Senior at BCHS, Devin, and we got to pal around together seeing how much charge we could give the cart, how fast we could go downhill in it, and occasionally got some work done.
After three summers and seeing my buddies making $6 an hour in other jobs, I decided I needed to leave Western for something more lucrative (this was probably foreshadowing for another pivotal moment in my career later on), a Janitor position at the high school. Throughout my 4 years at BCHS (2002 to 2006), I did occasionally go back to work at Western doing tasks for Eric within Student Services as well.
In the spring of 2007, Eric gave me another opportunity, this time at North Idaho College (NIC). Because of my task work and the three summers at Western, he knew my work ethic and had a project for me; go into the Financial Aid Office and help them with yearend filing. Knowing I was heading out to play football and my summer was mostly going to be taken up by school and practice, I took the job. For two days I worked hard, got to know the staff in the office, and went on my way thinking I would never see these people again. Once back in Dillon for the first part of that summer, I worked with my younger brother, Kyle, and for my mom, Louise, who was the Kitchen and Site Manager and Head Chef (a position she held for 8 years) at the Birch Creek Center for UM - Western. Birch Creek was an extension facility with cabins and food services 10 miles outide of town. Kyle and I made food deliveries and did other maintenance type tasks.
2008 brought recession as I was moving back to Coeur d'Alene, ID from Ukiah, CA to be close, but not too close, to family and friends, continue my education, and get ready for a baby that was due in June. Going to school was a priority but I also needed a job to get ready for the baby. After spending January and most of February applying and not getting interviews, Eric gave me yet another opportunity. “The Financial Aid Office needs help. I can’t guarantee you how long you’ll be working, but I can get you a job until the work is done.” he said. So I took the position and was willing to do just about anything to make some money.
February – June I worked half days filing paperwork and listening to the employees help students. Enrollment was up because of the recession, there was a lot to do, and the staff were overwhelmed. That allowed me to jump in and start helping students at the front window.
At that time, the Financial Aid Office was in a shambles. The Director of the office in 2007 was fired for falsifying her degrees and the Director in 2008 was fired because of how far behind the office got in processing student aid. That brought about an internal hire from the Student Accounts Office. The new Director was not liked by one of the Financial Aid staff and she quit the day the announcement was made.
That…..created an opportunity for me. A full-time benefited position as a Financial Aid Technician. I needed the insurance for the baby and needed money to provide for my growing family. My relationship with Eric did not allow for him to have any influence in the situation, aside from being a reference for me, so I had to make a run of this by myself.
The position required “3 years of applicable experience,” an Associate’s Degree, or the combination thereof. I didn’t have a degree or the experience. But, I could get creative. A semester at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and summer session and semester at Mendocino College was 1 year of schooling and the Spring 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters at NIC were another year. Then, the three and a half summers, off and on projects at the University of Montana – Western, and my project and 4 months in the Financial Aid Office at NIC could be muddled together to provide 1 year of “relevant experience.” It was a stretch, but the experience at Western was all in Student Services and Financial Aid was under the same umbrella.
With the position being posted externally and internally, I had some competition. However, the work that I had done and willingness to jump in and help the office in 2007 and 2008 was my differentiator. They knew what they were getting with me….so they accepted my application with my minimum qualifications and I ended up getting the job as a Financial Aid Technician.
We do things in life because of needs in the moment, especially in our younger years as we are finding our way. And as a recruiter, I see a lot of people not looking back into their past to creatively put together their experiences in a way that can articulate into relevance of present-day goals. What I thought were just summer jobs or a way to scrape by and my “failed” attempts at cool college experiences actually helped me. Those experiences were the reason I got the job as a Technician.
Never discount any of your past experiences, embrace them, use them, and draw from them to get you where you need to go in the future.
The best thing about getting the Technician position? The day I started the job and the day my benefits kicked in was the day my daughter, Integrity deGolia, was born. July 1st, 2008.
Keep. Going. Always.
-- Alex deGolia