By Clara Lincicome | Reporter
As seniors look toward their last week of classes as undergraduates, many are saying goodbye to their favorite professors, spots on campus and on-campus jobs that helped them get to the bittersweet place of graduation.
Fort Worth senior Elliot Mastin has been a community leader in Brooks Residential College for the past two years. Mastin explained that his CL his first year made an impact on his college experience which pushed him to become one himself.
“I was not the most outgoing or sociable freshman, so my CL was a very vital and transformative person for me,” Mastin said. “He was friends with me and introduced me to other people at Brooks, but also encouraged me to go out and make friends elsewhere and in other communities. He had an impact on me and was the first one to encourage me a lot to find communities and make friends.”
Mastin also saw the opportunity to be a CL as the “most practical and applicable way to live out the command of loving your neighbor,” he said.
“I am very thankful for being a CL because I think a lot of people are able to choose in college only people that share similar interests, and there’s not always a desire to meet other people,” Mastin said. “As a CL, you don’t really have that choice. I am now great friends with people that I probably wouldn’t have met just because their interests, beliefs and backgrounds are different than me.”
Through this experience, Mastin has gained a belief that is also his biggest piece of advice for his residents.
“There are plenty of awesome people that you haven’t met. Even through your senior year, continue trying to meet people and making new friends, even if you are well established and love your current communities. There’s no harm in trying to meet new people,” Mastin said.
As Mastin looks back at his time as a CL in Brooks Residential College, he said one of his favorite memories happened just a couple weeks ago at one of the first major events put on by the residential college this semester due to COVID-19.
“At the end of the night, the last thing we did was an all-hall worship night,” Mastin said. “The overall sense of hall unity going into the summer was really neat in a year where we haven’t had many big events like that. That was probably the most special because of the year that it’s been.”
Wylie senior Hannah Eboagu has been a Baylor athletic performance nutrition representative since last fall. The hands-on experience has given Eboagu the assurance that being a sports registered dietician is something she will pursue after she graduates.
“Getting to be with the athletes and getting to get my feet wet in this profession has been huge for me. I have made a lot of friends, but I’ve also gotten to understand what this job entails,” Eboagu said. “I think there are times when you want to do a job but you don’t necessarily know what behind the scenes looks like, what the good days and what the hard days look like.”
Eboagu said she is most grateful for the connections that she has been able to make with the dietitians.
“The experience is going to benefit me in the long run and with my professional goals,” Eboagu said.
Lumberton senior Marli Lemons has been a Baylor experience admissions representative, or tour guide, since her sophomore year. Lemons said the skills she has learned from being a tour guide are valuable, and they are skills that she is grateful to take with her as she graduates.
“You’re getting paid to talk to people, and that forces you to develop skills very quickly that people might not get the chance to develop like public speaking or interpersonal communications,” Lemons said. “There’s a lot of jobs that you just go in and do the same thing and sit at a desk. I did a job like that in high school and absolutely hated it because it’s very repetitive. I liked the fast-paced environment of this job and that social aspect.”
Lemons also emphasized the impact that the people she has worked with have had on her experience not only within the job but at Baylor in general.
“I feel like I have a relationship with almost everyone [in the office] and could reach out to them if I ever needed to. The supervisors are so involved and are great references and it’s connected me with people that have become my closest friends,” Lemons said.
