TASNEEM LUKMANJEE
From saving lives in the back of ambulances to starting international businesses, Dons are not waiting until graduation to join the workforce. According to a Fizz poll posted by the Foghorn on Feb. 17, which received 2,051 votes, 57% of students have a paid job or internship. Of the employed students, 45.5% hold an on-campus job and 54.5% hold an off-campus job.
Aaman Shah, a senior entrepreneurship major, founded “DripUp” when he was 16 years old with two friends in Ahmedabad, India. DripUp is a sneaker resale brand that operates similarly to GOAT, a platform for buyers and sellers to find each other and offer competitive prices on shoes, clothing, etc. DripUp operates on a smaller scale than GOAT, self identifying as ‘invitation only,’ according to their Instagram. “We used to have a few companies we used to buy shoes from, so we’d buy from them and sell at a little premium to our friends and that’s how we got started,” said Shah, clad in fresh white and green Jordan 4’s.
“We solely started from Ahmedabad, my hometown, and then we slowly expanded through India. Then after we graduated high school, we went to three different colleges. So one started in Canada, one started in the US, that’s me, and one is doing it in India,” said Shah.
Shah manages this business across time zones and is planning to graduate a year early from USF with his major in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Carolayne Lage, a junior media studies major, works three jobs with USF’s Student Leadership and Engagement Office. “One of my jobs is that I work as a student photographer for SLE […] Which means I go around to the different student org events, sometimes they can request or sometimes I just show up surprisingly. And I take photos for them so they have pictures for their events and other promotional material,” said Lage.
Lage is also Team Lead for Events and Activities for Get Oriented (GO) Team which facilitates the orientation period for incoming freshmen, and her role is organizing events such as the annual Drag Show night. She’s also returning to the Magis Emerging Leadership programs as a Lead Mentor. “This is my third year in Magis, which is a leadership program for first year students who are just trying to get into the USF bubble […] This year I’m heavily focused on the curriculum and what they’re doing in the workshops,” said Lage.
When asked how she balances working three different jobs while being a full time student, Lage said, “I really love everything I do. Even if it can be stressful, it’s so fun at the end of the day, like I have so many fun experiences from it so maybe for me the good outweighs the little bad.”
Bree Edmonds, a sophomore kinesiology major with minors in neuroscience and psychology, works as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in the city. EMTs are first responders to medical emergencies and assist patients both on site and en route to the hospital.
“When someone calls 911, we show up with the fire department to basically kind of help out with all of your emergency medical issues to help you out. We also transport patients from hospital to hospital when they don’t have enough beds. So sometimes other than being dispatched to calls, we’ll also go to hospitals and help move around patients so that hospitals can open up beds for other people who need them too,” said Edmonds.
Edmonds gave a rundown of what a day in her life at work looks like. “A work shift is usually anywhere from ten to twelve hours. It’s basically just me getting up, eating breakfast, getting dressed, going to work and I’m there from like eight to eight or like ten to ten.”
What may seem like an arduous schedule for some, Edmonds said she enjoys her job. “At work I tend to be one of the younger, if not the youngest employee which can be hard in a sense because no one is really my age. But at the same time I really enjoy it because I feel like I get to learn from all my coworkers and my bosses and it kind of adds to my experience of getting to learn from other people,” she said.
Editor-in-Chief: Jordan Premmer, Chief Copy Editor: Sophia McCrackin, Managing Editor: Jordan DelFiugo, Opinion Editor: Dakota Duran, Scene Editor: Elina Graham
