My mission: Help people.
My area: Outside the G and H buildings on CSN’s Charleston campus.
My time of deployment: 7:30 a.m.
My comrades: 154 other CSN students, faculty and staff wearing bright blue T-shirts with “Welcome Crew” written on the back in giant yellow letters. The front says “Ask me. I can help.”
We’re all part of CSN’s welcome back team. It’s our job to hang around the busy spots on all three campuses during the first couple days of each semester.
We carry maps.
We carry instructions on how students can activate their CSN accounts.
We carry a spreadsheet listing all the classes CSN offers this semester and a list of phone numbers so extensive that it covers two sheets of paper, front and back.
Armed as such, we deploy.
I stand my ground. I see CSN librarian Ted Chodock close by, also on the Crew.
Ted was recently named Nevada Librarian of the Year by the Nevada Library Association. He’s the type of guy who goes far out of his way to help people, even when he doesn’t have to. It’s just who he is.
I am determined to help more people than he does.
I snicker because he’s wearing a jacket. I bravely left mine in the car so I could show off my cool T-shirt.
I shiver. That uncontrollable kind. So I go get my jacket.
It’s 7:40 a.m. A confused looking student wanders past. I accost him with offers of help.
“So, are the 100s on the first floor and the 200s on the second floor? Is that how it works,” asks the student, who’s brand new to CSN and studying graphic design.
Yes, I tell him, and he’s on his way.
Score. That was easy.
The wind knocks over a sign pointing to the library. I bend to pick it up.
The sun peeks over the top of the I building at 7:52 a.m., and it is a blessed sight. I feel warmer already.
Two minutes later, a woman carrying a campus map that’s flapping in the wind approaches. “Hi,” she says. “I’m looking for the I building?”
Another easy one.
8:05. A nicely dressed guy with a backpack slung over one shoulder has that look, as if he’s lost.
Because he is lost.
“Excuse me sir,” he says. “Do you know where the N building is?”
I, in fact, do not. So I break out the map. Turns out, the N building is nowhere near the K, L or M buildings. It’s next to the KNPR radio building, the map says. I know where that is, so I point him in the right direction.
“Thanks,” he says. “I’m already late for class.”
The library sign blows over again, so I prop it back up near a bush, hoping that’ll block some of the wind.
I unzip my jacket a bit and open the front, like a superhero, so people can see the “Ask me.”
I spy Ted helping someone. I feel envy.
It’s 8:56 a.m. I see a woman pushing a bicycle. She stops and looks around. I know that look, so I approach. “Do you know where the E building is?”
I certainly do. 🙂
Before I’m even done talking, another woman approaches. She points out my blue shirt, the “Ask me” on the front, and I feel proud of that superhero move. She has a campus map open on her phone, but it’s not helping her much.
I help her find the B building, and she’s on her way.
Two guys need help finding the F building, which I tell them is near the city of Las Vegas fire station at the south end of campus.
A woman needs help finding the H building, a guy needs the B building, and on and on we go.
Two and a half hours fly by. I don’t check with Ted to see how many people he’s helped, because it doesn’t matter. I’ve helped enough, and I feel good about it.
But does it all really help?
Undoubtedly it does. And not just because it stopped a couple of people from being late — or later — for class.
It helps because it makes students realize that college, even one as huge as CSN, is not a scary place. It’s not a place where you have to get lost, or be just a number. It does not have to be a place where the only one who cares about you is you.
It’s a place where all of us care how you’re doing.
There’s plenty of research out there showing that students who feel connected to their school stay in school. You can’t graduate if you don’t stay, so our first task here at CSN is to make sure you get connected. We really, really want you to graduate.
It’s why we hold CSN Connections events at the beginning of every semester. It’s why we encourage participation in student clubs, why we want you to get to know your professors, why we instituted a new financial aid hotline, why we’re adding counselors and advisors.
We want to help you. Just ask.