My Campus Director believes that the best way to learn is trial by fire, and as a result, I was placed at the front desk within my first full week. While I tried to conceal my trepidation at answering phones from students with questions that I wasn’t going to have ready answers for, I anxiously became best friends with the front desk phone.

 

Though I moved on to serve as an AO, I truly feel that beginning at the front was the best start I could have had. Anyone that serves in a front desk position will forever have my respect as they are literally the first face for a company. Moreover, I learned a great deal about Strayer. First, if a student called with a question, I likely didn’t know the answer, but I quickly learned how to find out the information in a timely fashion. As the student learned, I also learned.

 

Second, and perhaps most importantly, I saw my campus from the ground up. Being up at the front gave me a unique insight into how our various departments work with one another. Most of the time, this educated me on how we are efficient, but it also illuminated ways in which we could be even more effective.

 

At the North Raleigh campus, everyone is expected to greet a student and make sure they are being attended to. Moreover, everyone is expected to answer a phone, even if it isn’t your phone and isn’t in your department. Not only does this improve our responsiveness, but it gives us the opportunity to learn and grow.

 

This is why I believe the CDLP is a fantastic opportunity for those willing to challenge themselves. By serving in different departments, all the while shadowing a CD in their responsibilities, you gain an acute awareness for the pulse of what drives a campus.

 

Lastly, and perhaps most enduringly, my time here has taught me to always be humble. No matter how high we may excel in our professional career, we are never above our basic function here at Strayer: to serve our students. Whether you are an AA, an AO, or a CD, when a student calls, we all have our responsibility to answer. And although not all of us sit up at the front, we all are the face of the company.