Annika Swenson ’28 makes a difference on campus through her diverse campus jobs, working hard to provide excellent dining services as well as support students’ academic journeys during New Student Orientation. Her advice as a transfer student: “Apply to anything that interests you and that you think you would enjoy doing—that will help build you up and lead you to where you’re meant to be. You’d be surprised at what you can offer; I’ve landed interviews for positions I thought I was way underqualified for… I promise you can do it!”
In what ways have your campus jobs contributed to your personal, academic, or professional growth and aspirations? What skills have you gained?
I absolutely have a newfound appreciation for how much work goes into providing campus services like dining. What might be a 30-40 minute meal with friends for me requires a load of work behind the scenes to cook, prep, and serve food, let alone clean everything up, for hundreds and hundreds of Wes students. I’m honored to have the opportunity to get a different perspective of what work is like for some Wesleyan employees, and how their work is just as valuable (if not more) than what a lot of others do for the school. It’s also helped me understand the extent of my privilege as an undergrad student. I think if more Wes students saw how hard people were working to make their college experience better, it’d help them form a newfound appreciation for all the members of our community.
Can you share any memorable experiences or achievements from your campus employment journey?
When I walked out of my interview for the New Student Orientation Peer Advisor position, I thought I totally bombed it. I was so embarrassed—I had forgotten to review the application info beforehand and stumbled through a few questions. I talk a lot with my hands, and I thought that might have been unprofessional. I was so looking forward to working with new students and I was so disappointed in myself. Imagine my surprise when I learned I got it! Not only that, I was offered extra hours to help support incoming transfer students. That experience taught me to have faith in my ability to be myself and appeal to employers through my own personal capability. Sometimes (with proper prep, of course), being yourself is enough, as cheesy as that sounds. I’m so looking forward to working with new students and helping them along their multifaceted journeys!
How do you manage to balance your campus jobs with academic commitments and other activities?
It definitely isn’t easy. Like a lot of Wes students, I tend to bite off more than I can chew in terms of commitments. On top of working, I also do crew for various Spike Tape student theatre shows, tutor middle schoolers in Middletown through a (great!) JCCP {Jewett Center for Community Partnerships} program called WUMSTP (Wesleyan University Middle School Tutoring Partnership), dabble in stand-up comedy, carry a full course load, go to the gym, and somehow maintain a social life. Google Calendar and I are basically best friends. But seriously, it takes a lot of skill to truncate your time and plan your weeks ahead of time to make sure you’re getting your hours in and participating in everything you want to on campus. I always make sure to block out time to do schoolwork as if it’s a non-negotiable commitment, and I’ve gotten better and better at saying no to hanging out with people if I need to get work done. Having a regular schedule that leaves at least a few hours every day for schoolwork has worked well for me and still allowed me to spend time doing things I enjoy.
What advice would you give to students who are seeking or starting their campus employment journey?
Especially for transfers, don’t discount working at Usdan. Yeah, food service is hard, but I’ve learned a lot about how much work actually goes into running the dining aspect of Wesleyan and providing convenient services to the students. Usdan pays well and the people working here are so, so nice! Working at Usdan has provided me with a great way to support myself and my goals while I work on building my resume, which was stagnated during my transfer process (re-applying to college all over again left me absolutely no time to get job experience.) It’s also very intimidating to be a student (especially a new student) just starting their employment journey at a college level. So many people at Wes are talented and smart, and it can feel hard to stand out. Apply to anything that interests you and that you think you would enjoy doing—that will help build you up and lead you to where you’re meant to be. You’d be surprised at what you can offer; I’ve landed interviews for positions I thought I was way underqualified for and that I look forward to starting. I promise you can do it!
Give your campus job supervisor(s) a shout out – what did you love about their mentorship?
Shoutout to my manager Steven Perrone, who’s always checking up on everybody and making sure things are going smoothly at Usdan!
Updated April 23, 2026.
