Pandemic accelerates career training for UTM student

U of T Mississauga fourth-year student Juliette Melchor Rodriguez fast-tracked her career training and stepped up to help her fellow students in residence as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded.

The linguistic major, who also has a minor in education studies and professional writing and communications, was focused on completing her final year while working part-time behind the scenes in residence when the pandemic changed everything.

She says that on the day the university announced exams wouldn’t be written in person, “everyone shot into overdrive.” Students, she says, were given a deadline to move out unless they were going to be staying.

Melchor Rodriguez was called into the student housing office during off hours to help with the check-out process, which was “suddenly accelerated.”

“It was a busy week,” she recalls. “We were condensing an extensive process into a week. It was intense.”

Not only was Melchor Rodriguez helping other students navigate the changes, she was also adapting to taking her own classes online and practicing new social distancing norms. Like others, her daily life had been dramatically altered.

“It was very challenging personally to go through this transition all at once,” she says, adding if she ever had any doubts about balancing priorities and working under pressure, now she knows she can do it.

While the university had to make difficult choices, it was good to see everyone come together with the students’ best interests at heart, she says.

Once classes are over, Melchor Rodriguez will step into a temporary full-time role with student housing administration, which she hopes will last over the summer. It’s a role within the department she’s been working toward since she discovered there’s a rewarding career to be had in student housing.

She started working with UTM’s student housing when she was in second year. For two years she worked as a residence don, where she was responsible for community development, social and educational programming, referrals and the overall well-being of the residents.

This past year she shifted from her student-facing role to work behind the scenes in an administrative role. She says she had expected a more gradual transition, but she had to “step into the professional role earlier than anticipated” due to the impact of the pandemic.

Her recent experiences have only bolstered her desire to pursue a career in student housing, where she can support and encourage students transitioning to university life in an impactful way.

“It’s a career path I’m passionate about pursuing,” she says. “I definitely enjoy it. I’m challenged enough and it’s a place where I can thrive.”