Student employees are an important part of keeping NMU’s campus going, whether it’s working at Northern Lights Dining as a server, the book store at the Northern Center helping students get their textbooks or All Campus Tutoring aiding students who are struggling with classes.

National Student Employment Week celebrates these working students.

For National Student Employment Week, on April 13, Career Services will hold an open house for student employees featuring popcorn, a game and plenty of prizes to be won. Career Services’ goal is to recognize the hard work that student employees do, said Walker Derby, one of the assistant directors in Career Services. 

“Student employment is important for a ton of reasons — it’s a great opportunity to get some job experience while working on a team, it builds friendships and it is an important part of university operations,” Derby said. “These are skills and memories that will be remembered for the rest of students’ lives.” 

Career Services will decorate for the occasion with a cowboy theme along with a ring toss and an opportunity to win candy prizes.

The team’s new popcorn maker will also have a selection of custom toppings, said Derby.

 “We want everyone to have a good time and be recognized for the hard work they perform,” Derby said. “This will be a fun opportunity to take a break and relax at the students’ convenience.”

For Dining services, the week-long celebration provides the opportunity to recognize, appreciate, praise and thank the approximately 370 dedicated student team members, said Theresa “T.” Hamari, manager of Dining Services employment operations and training.

“We need to celebrate their valuable contributions to Dining Services, NMU and our surrounding community,” Hamari said. “Without our student team, we would not be able to provide the variety of dynamic dining options across campus. Our student team is truly an integral part of our operations, both on and off campus.”

Besides using the week to honor their student employees, Dining Services also celebrates and expresses gratitude for the student team every month, said Hamari. Game nights, movie nights, pasty feasts with a ketchup or gravy competition, cooking lessons with the executive chef, giveaways, cookies and more are just a few things dining services has done in the past. 

“[We have an] endless amount of gratitude for our student employees,” Hamari said. “They are all rockstars in my book.”

It also has a recognition program to honor students that go above and beyond in their work. This year, dining services has started giving their student team “stress less bags,” with teabags, a snack, a tip card to help deal with stress and even some bubble wrap to pop.

Riley Hughes, a junior and management major, is the employment team leader and just one of countless students working on campus.

“I have been able to meet so many people and form connections with professionals in my field through my job,” Hughes said.

Working on campus has been a wonderful experience, said Hughes. It has offered her opportunities to meet new people, and for Hughes, allowed her to accept an internship she was able to obtain because of the experience she gained from her job.

“Having an on-campus job allows you to have the flexibility of working around your class schedule while also being able to get job experience,” Hughes said. “Everyone should give their hand at working on campus at some point no matter what the position might be.”