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Working Enriched Her Experience
By Amy Callahan hen Carol Morgan entered Barnard four years ago, she did not anticipate the breadth of experience she would gain. The Centennial Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa student spent a summer as a health care missionary in the Amazon--pulling children's teeth with a tool she described as "similar to a wrench"; she researched terrorism as a political science major, and she recently traveled to the Middle East to follow up her thesis research on the social and political role of non-governmental organizations in her family's native Egypt.
And one other thing: Morgan worked for the University since her first year--initially in Human Resources, then in the Office of Student Services. Students don't tend to rave about their part-time campus jobs, but Morgan's working experience, she insists, will contribute to her professional success as much as her travels and scholarly work. "It has really enriched my experience at Columbia," Morgan says, noting her proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint (a software program widely used in business), her organizational and problem-solving skills and her ability to handle clients. "That's a life skill, not just a workplace skill." With a laugh, she points out how much she progressed: "I came here only knowing how to type!" In Student Services, Morgan was given projects to execute independently, in addition to filling in for the regular office staff when needed. Mark Burstein, vice president for student services, said Morgan was vital to the office. Burstein said: "I hope this experience has been a nice compliment to the exceptional academic life she pursued here."
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