Occidental College
Campus Conversations
I love this place so much that I've never left
I'm not joking. After being accepted to Oxy, I moved onto campus just before Orientation Week in August 2009. Besides going home to Connecticut for winter and spring breaks, I have neither left Los Angeles nor moved off campus. At the end of this summer I will have lived here for two years, and every day of it has been great. But David, what has kept you on campus for so long? The beautiful Spanish architecture, that wonderful SoCal sunshine and perhaps most importantly: employment. This summer I am have the same job that I did last summer, I am working for the Conference Services Office at Occidental College. That sounds nice David, but what exactly does that mean?
Well, I'm glad you asked because I would happy to tell you. In Conference Services, we bring in external clients to stay on campus and use our facilities over the summer. Just to give you a taste of who our clients are, on campus this summer we'll have a cinema and performing arts camp, a leadership training program and an English language training program among many others. These programs are not run by the college, however the staff and participants in these programs live in our residence halls, use our classrooms and eat in our dining hall over the summer---so I guess one could say that they get a taste of what it's like to be a student at this school. In Conference Services, we basically do all that it takes to make sure that our clients enjoy their stay and have a successful program while on campus. We do everything from making sure our clients have proper housing to ensuring that they're allotted the correct number of sleeping rooms and that those rooms are clean. We make sure that our clients have the classroom and outdoor spaces that they need and that they know when and where to eat on campus. Our duties include both work in the office and work throughout other campus buildings and residence halls. And we do this all while wearing custom polos and snazzy name-tags. Cool! I know, right? And on my days off I get to explore Los Angeles, hang out with friends and sometimes I'll even get to the beach. Life is good. And if you read my earlier blog post, you know that I'll finally be forced to leave campus at the end of the summer because I will be spending the fall semester in Hong Kong. So, I'll try to take in as much of this city as possible this summer in preparation of my five month hiatus from campus. Until next time, have a great summer--you earned it! David is a rising junior at Occidental College, an avid car lover and the number one fan of BBC's Top Gear.