Student Recreation Center offers professional growth for student employees

Grad student Elizabeth Trujillo is a manager at the center

By California State University, Bakersfield

December 9^th, 2021

California State University, Bakersfield graduate student Elizabeth Trujillo really enjoys helping people.

As a part-time manager on duty at the Student Recreation Center (SRC) when full-time staff aren’t present, Trujillo makes sure all programs and services are running smoothly and frequently checks in with students and staff to see if they have everything they need.

“I enjoy seeing people, saying ‘hey, what can I do for you?’ It makes me feel good,” she said. “I try to do whatever I can to make a difference for students. I like seeing people happy.”

Trujillo has been working as night manager since the beginning of the fall semester, when she also began pursuing her master’s degree in kinesiology. She held other positions at the SRC while she was an undergraduate as well.

Trujillo has been involved with the center ever since she was a freshman. At first, it was just as a student taking advantage of the SRC’s programs and services.

However, after learning about work opportunities at the center from a coordinator in spring 2018, Trujillo applied for several part-time positions and was hired as an intramural sports official starting fall 2018.

“It seemed like a great opportunity, because I love sports and I love moving around,” she said. “It was also a way for me to be able to give back. I really enjoyed coming here just as a student. This is a place I feel can be very open and de-stressing. I want students to feel good about themselves and leave with a smile on their face.”

Trujillo worked at the SRC until COVID-19 caused the campus to operate virtually in March 2020, after which she only taught a few virtual fitness classes.

After learning that the campus would reopen in-person services this semester, she was eager to work at the center again. She applied for the position of manager on duty and was quickly hired.

Being a manager at the SRC is a responsibility that Trujillo takes very seriously. She has to be able to make quick decisions and solve problems as well as respond to any emergency situations that may occur.

“If anything occurs in the facility, I’ll be the one to find out and act on it,” she said. “With any decision that comes up, I try to make the best choice possible.”

The center helps prepare its student workers by conducting emergency scenarios as well as offering CPR training, networking opportunities, leadership programs and other professional development.

“We train them and provide them with the resources they need in order to be successful,” said SRC Director Mary O’Mahoney. “If there’s a medical emergency or an incident, they’re trained and prepared to handle it. The training kicks in so they’re not so panicked when something does happen. We know in a facility like ours, it’s not a matter of if but when an incident or injury happens, and they need to be prepared for that.”

Helping students grow

Trujillo is proud of what the Student Recreation Center is able to offer student employees such as herself.

“There’s always something new to learn,” she said. “They really help build you up and help you grow as a person. I think it helps students find their calling, what they want to do in their life.”

Student employees don’t have to be pursuing a degree in kinesiology or a similar field to get something out of working at the center, according to O’Mahoney.

“We know you’re students first, but we can also provide you with very transferrable skills for whatever your career may be,” she said. “The things you learn here, you don’t just have to go into recreation for them to be valuable to you.”

The SRC currently has around 80 student workers and is the largest employer of students on campus, O’Mahoney said. The center is still not at full staffing. Prior to COVID-19, the SRC had over 100 student employees.

“We’re very student-centered here,” she said. “Students are operating our building, they are running our programs. We rely on our student staff to be able to do what we do.”

O’Mahoney said Trujillo has been a significant asset for the SRC over the years.

“She’s pretty well-rounded and a great ambassador for our department,” she said. “She’s a funny, engaging and intelligent young lady. I feel like she’s got ownership over the programs she’s involved with.”

Trujillo hopes she can obtain her master’s in spring 2023, after which she plans on going to medical school as part of her goal to eventually become a physician in the area of sports medicine.

Trujillo believes her experiences at the SRC have helped prepare her for that career path.

“I just want to get any experience I can helping people,” she said. “I want to be able to help people in the future so much more than I already do now.”

When Trujillo graduates and finally leaves the SRC, she said it will be a very bittersweet moment.

“I love working here, I love what I do. It’s the best job in the world,” she said. “I’ve grown and learned a lot. If I look back at my freshman self, I’m not the same person that I was, but I know there’s still a lot to learn.”