Student Workers at the Libraries
In each issue of Library Matters, we profile one or two of our student workers. We could not run the Libraries without them. In addition to the essential functions they perform, they generally are delightful people and bring much joy to our workplace. Today we profile Emmanuela Angu and Grace Rail.
Emmanuela is a Medical Laboratory Science major who was born in South Sudan. She migrated to the United States a decade ago, living first in New Jersey, then moving to Salisbury in 2016. Her older siblings attended SU, so she often accompanied them to campus, “sometimes to study and sometimes just to get away from the world.” She did not have a computer at home, so when she needed to write her senior research paper for AP English, she came to the Guerrieri Academic Commons “almost every single weekend. The more time I spent on campus, the more I fell in love with it.”
Emmanuela started working at the circulation desk in the Academic Commons in August 2022 as a Student Assistant. Amy Jones, head of circulation, observes that she “is both an excellent student and lovely to work with. She is friendly and helpful with colleagues and patrons, and her attention to detail is top-notch. This year, she was promoted to a Student Leader position, where she is a great role model for her peers.” What Emmanuela enjoys most about working at the Libraries is “how at any given time, there is someone next to me to help me if I am ever stuck. I also like how low stress it is. My colleagues have been nothing but kind and friendly and that has helped create a peaceful work environment.” Her job also has “a lot of downtime” which she spends doing homework and studying.
One thing Emmanuela loves about her major “is the wealth of knowledge [she is] exposed to daily about not only the complex nature of the human body but also the microscopic and diagnostic aspects of medicine.” She notes that “almost every professor” she has met, whether in her major or not, “has been kind and encouraging in their own way.” Her major offers great career prospects, and she will be able to “work in any lab I want, whether medical, research, biology, or even forensic.” After graduation, she wants to become a doctor. She plans to take a gap year working at the hospital while she studies for the MCAT exam, gathers experiences such as “volunteering or shadowing a doctor,” and works on her medical school application.
Hailing from Long Island, Grace chose SU because on her first visit, “I immediately got the feeling that it was home. When I was exploring colleges, everyone told me that you would know as soon as you step on campus that you are choosing the right school, and I definitely had that feeling.” Grace also appreciates SU’s strong athletics program, noting that as a women’s volleyball player, “it was important to me to find a school that equally supported academics and athletics.” Grace, by the way, is an outstanding volleyball player and has been named the Coast-to-Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week for three consecutive weeks.
Grace is a senior majoring in Elementary Education with dual certification in the Early Childhood Education Program. She works, appropriately enough, in the Dr. Ernie Bond Curriculum Resource Center, the library-run center focused on juvenile literature in Conway Hall. She has worked there since August 2022 and enjoys “greeting all of our patrons and helping them find books that they need to complete their assignments.” She also loves “the welcoming and cozy atmosphere of the CRC.” “Working at the CRC,” she observes, “has given me an academic advantage because all of the resources I need are at my fingertips. As a student in the education program, I constantly need children’s books to fit my assignments. The knowledge I have gained from working at the CRC has helped me in my knowledge of all kinds of children’s literature.”
Grace will be graduating in December 2024, so we should get to enjoy her for a couple more semesters. After graduation, she plans to be an elementary school teacher. Her eventual goal is to earn a master’s degree in educational administration or child psychology.
As Amy Jones observed about Emmanuela, but which applies equally to Grace, “We will be sorry to see her graduate, but we know she has a great future ahead of her!” Thanks to Emmanuela and Grace!