Getting a Job On-Campus?

As a fourth-year international student, my role is sometimes beyond just a student. I am an accounting tutor at UCSB Campus Learning Assistance Services (CLAS). My job is to host tutorial groups for students in the Financial Accounting course. This position requires me to speak in front of 20-30 people every week and answer questions in an effective manner. Before I started this job in Summer 2018, I could never imagine myself standing in a position to assist my fellow classmates because I was afraid that the language gap will decrease my credibility and ability as a tutor.

Working on campus is a group-oriented activity. We learn how to communicate with people and develop a flexible personality that helps us deal with difficulties. Sometimes, the benefit of getting a job on campus is not just about the financial reward; it is a process of building up the essential characteristics of a team player. A common issue among the international student community is the lack of participation in on-campus jobs. Getting a job at school can be challenging from multiple perspectives. It requires students to break out from our comfort zone and challenge our interpersonal skills, such as communication ability and social ability. These challenges potentially affect international students’ desire to get involved in on-campus employment.

According to U.S. News, it is important for international students to pursue activities that expose us to people and environments that strengthen our future and build up work experience – without a lot of work (Ruiz, 2013). Seeking for an on-campus job is a perfect fit to achieve the goal. As an Economics and Accounting major student, I consider the work experiences that I gained at UCSB as a fuel that prepares me as a more socialized and well-rounded individual as I step into the real world.

Working at CLAS allows me to have direct contact with students and to build up my confidence as a student tutor. The most challenging part throughout the process was to overcome the difficulty I had with my international identity. I used to think my deficient language skill and different learning style resulted from a foreign educational background would be a label that covered up my academic ability; however, what I did not consider is that communication is a two-direction process that bridges up the information from one side to another. Language, in this case, is only a form of delivery. The quality of thoughts and the value of a person is not defined by the language ability.

It has almost been a quarter since I started doing group tutorials. I am no longer afraid of presenting in front of large groups of students and sharing my experience as an international accounting student. I have started to develop a better interpersonal skill that helps me to connect with my students better and be more confident when meeting with new people. Breaking out from our social circle and comfort zone might be challenging, but what we can learn throughout the process will be sustainable.

Source:

Ruiz, Katelyn. “Try Volunteering to Build Job Skills as an International Student.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 23 July 2013, www.usnews.com/education/blogs/international-student-counsel/2013/07/23/try-volunteering-to-build-job-skills-as-an-international-student.