Naysa Abraham ’25 has worked in every corner of Wesleyan and left a lasting impact across campus dining centers, athletics, and student programming! As the General Manager of Espwesso Cafe – the student-run, community-oriented specialty coffee shop – they have advanced the cafe’s legacy and financial success. They integrated the cafe’s first credit-card reader and successfully negotiated increased meal points for Espwesso’s inclusion in student dining plans. Their success as a student employee is a testament to their leadership, diligence, and willingness to try new things!
How do you manage to balance your campus job with academic commitments and other activities?
In all honesty, I don’t manage to balance my campus jobs with academic commitments and other activities. Some weeks my academics take a toll on my work, and other weeks, my work takes a toll on my academics and social life. But regardless of the ups and downs throughout this crazy process, I have survived and made it to the end, and I cannot say I would have done anything differently. My biggest piece of advice it to remain transparent with everyone. Whether it be your professors, your friends, your supervisors, or your coworkers, communication and accountability matters. When you are unable to finish a task at work, delegate. When your academics are overwhelming you, be transparent and ask for help.
Regardless of who you are and what your commitments are, there will always be a time when life is simply too overwhelming. Learn to reach out and ask for help and know that there are plenty of resources and people who want nothing but to make sure you succeed. Take accountability for your responsibilities, and when they are far too much for you to handle, say that out loud to the people that matter. Your time at Wes never needs to be a one-man struggle. This is a community unlike any other and every person I have met has, in one way or the other, gone out of their way to help when I have needed it.
What advice would you give to students who are seeking or starting their campus employment journey?
Throughout my time at Wes, I had no choice but to work. I pay my tuition on a monthly basis and my jobs have been my source of income for this. All that being said, the past 3 years have been a journey in learning what balance looks like for me. When I started my freshman year, I was working tirelessly every week and found myself burnt out, unable to complete my assignments and too exhausted to pursue social commitments. This didn’t need to be the case, and it took me years to figure that out. Work where your heart is. Work with people that make your smile and laugh. Work on things that fulfill and excite you every day. Work where you feel the most like yourself and where you are encouraged by your peers to pursue your passions. Work where you feel supported. I started my time at Wes working where I was not happy and I ended it working with people who I consider my family. My co-workers and supervisors have supported me through some of the toughest times, and they are my biggest advocates and hype-people. Do not let your work drain you and know that there is something out there that will make you happy! Never settle for anything less.
Give your campus job supervisor(s) a shout out – what did you love about their mentorship?
Here’s to the passionate, talented, inspiring, and amazing supervisors of Wesleyan:
- To Jeff Place for always visiting his desk monitors and greeting them with a smile and fist bump.
- To Scott Bushey for teaching me the ropes on how to run games and matches for sports I never knew a thing about until the moment I clocked in for my shift.
- To Malana Rogers-Bursen for teaching me what community engagement and conversation looks like and mentoring me in the ways to best create sustainable networks for long term change.
- To my sound co-op managers who always respond to my texts in minutes while I’m panicking about what show set-ups are supposed to look like.
- To all the amazing Bon App dining workers who ask me about my day and have celebrated each milestone during my time at Wes.
- To Emily Donahue for being Espwesso Cafe’s backbone and master problem solver no matter how big or small the issue is.
- To Cypress Hubbard-Salk and Sophia Chen for introducing me to the cafe that became my home and being the ultimate role models for what a supportive, attentive, and resourceful general manager looks like.
- To Joanne Rafferty for being my biggest supporter both as a supervisor and a friend; she has been my shoulder to cry on, the boss that gives it to you straight, and the adult that I come running to at every turn in my life.
You are all amazing and I hope each one of you knows how incredibly grateful I am for your presence in my life. You have moved and changed me and most of all, your support has made it possible for me to have reached to this point in my life. Thank you!
Naysa was nominated for the 2025 Exceptional Student Employee of the Year Award by their supervisor Emily Donahue, Administrative Assistant at the Office of Student Involvement (OSI). Read the nomination below:
Naysa is truly a remarkable worker. I am the Supervisor for Espwesso Cafe. Naysa began the year as the Espwesso Financial Manager, and worked with the prior manager to create a legacy plan for Espwesso because of the problems the cafe encountered. Naysa wants to ensure the success of the cafe after they graduate. Naysa is graduating this year, one year early, and not only has been advanced in their studies, they have also taken the role of Espwesso General Manager this semester as the prior manager graduated in the winter. Naysa has been especially diligent in ensuring the day-to-day success of the cafe and their student employees by helping track expenses, putting in maintenance orders for issues with the cafe (which is often) and advancing the cafe in ways like trying to obtain a credit card reader. Naysa and the prior manager also revised the Espwesso MOU {Memorandum of Understanding} with Bon App {Bon Appetit Dining} and came to an agreement to raise their Meal Points cap allowance. This was an arduous task that took a lot of time and negotiations. But, Naysa cares so much about having the cafe be accessible to all by allowing meal points, and because the cafe was so successful the prior year, Bon App was not going to allow more meal points to be used. Naysa made an excellent case for the cafe, leading to the successful raise of points. Not only was Naysa able to accomplish this all while on track to graduate early, they are also a member of Sound Co-op and was an AMAZING Orientation Intern for Student Involvement over the summer. Naysa is the definition of an exceptional employee and I would love to see them recognized for that.
Updated April 24, 2025.
