Antioch College
&
The Co-Op Experience
An Online Portfolio By Cara Stedman
Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort
Franklin D. Roosevelt
What's my Co-Op for 2020?
My Co-Op was a tough decision to make with so many opportunities surrounding me. In the end, I chose to stay in my home community and make the most of my time by working 3 separate jobs and accomplishing very different tasks. I think the completely different experiences helped diversify my learning and professional abilities. I also think I made some great personal strides and met important goals. Below I will list the three jobs that I spent my time at over Co-Op.
CBCB Bar and Grill
Server
I worked at CBCB Bar and Grill which stand for Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers. It was my first time working as a waitress but I caught on quickly and found myself learning alot in terms of communication. You can read about it further down the page.
Counseling Assistant
Antioch College
This job was so exciting because I got to work towards my degree surrounding mental health by working with a mental health professional on my own campus. I worked a few hours every week with Nzingha Dalila, the Antioch College councilor, to help plan campus events that support people in community. I can't wait to continue working in the counseling department come spring.
You can read about it further down the page.
Media Services
Media Arts Checkout
I won't go into detail on this job cause it includes a few of the things I did in my last Co-Op except that now I check equipment out to media arts students when they need it. If you are interested in reading about the media services work I have done then I encourage you to go back to the Co-Op 2019 page and read about it!
Goals
The most important part of my reflection is how I grew and achieved different goals while on Co-Op. These can be professional, academic, or personal but its very important to look at my growth.
Getting To Know Your Customers
I wanted to write a little piece on how this Co-Op really taught me the importance of human connection. The picture is of 2 of my favorite customers who politely agreed to a photo. They come in every week and had gotten to know me. I could give you their regular order right now. There are so many regular people you meet working in the serving industry and I think that the connections you make through your everyday life are very important.
Providing Great Customer Service
I have started really understanding what customer service is about from my manager and the owner of the restaurant. They have been teaching me the proper language to use when addressing people and adjusting your regular vocabulary to make the interaction better. Things like, “instead of saying good, use the work fantastic or amazing. We can do better than good.” As well as, how you should greet a group of men as gentlemen and a group of women as ladies. They have also been teaching me to begin anticipating what the customer wants by mentioning dessert, refills, or the check.
I know it sounds slightly trivial but there are small things that can make all the difference when dealing doing customer service. I would like to say that my bosses and some of my co-workers are really great at it. Its having that intuition and charisma that makes them so good at their work. I find myself striving for excellent service when working. It’s teaching me a lot about interactions between people.
Another Co-Op
I am so happy to have finished my second Co-Op. It was another Co-Op and another chance to grow in knowledge. The skills I learn during Co-Op are meant to transfer into my other endeavors and I think this one accomplished that task. I have made meaningful connections and put in time and dedication to my work. I think my favorite part about this Co-Op was the people that I got to work with. I want to give a special thank you to Michelle (restaurant owner), Melissa (restaurant manager), Danielle(server), and Heather (server). I really couldn't have learned and done the work without them helping me so much.
The past couple weeks have taught me that practice at a skill really is everything. At the beginning of my job at the restaurant I found more than 3 tables extremely challenging. Now after almost 2 months on the job, I was able to take 6+ tables of people at the lunch rush today. I gave great customer service and didn’t get a single order wrong. Just recently I did my first really good job late Saturday night. It was a lot of work because it can get so busy since we have live music. While lunches are still my strong suit I now feel I am a strong enough server to work a busy evening as well. Serving lunch and serving dinner can be very different from the people who come, to the drinks that are regularly ordered.
I also have to say that having regulars that I encounter and talk to is fantastic. I can name a whole hand full of regulars and even give you some of their orders from the drinks to the sauces they want on the side. I never thought I would be the type to memorize orders but after taking them enough times it's almost automatic
In the counseling services department I began planning events and the first one will be coming up on March 3rd. It is a screening of a movie and the event is called Native American Trauma and Healing. I am securing the guest speakers and sending out information in flyer form to not only this college but since it is a collaborative project, other universities in the area. I am creating a calendar of all the other events we have planned. I have a to do list for each event and there is no end in site for the work that needs to be done. I am continuing this work through my coming academic term.