Working to Learn, Learning to Work

Sometimes having to work while you are in college can be a burden, but it can also be a learning experience. Recent CLA graduate Jamie Kuenster found CLA courses that gave her practical experience and jobs that prepared her for a career, and already it has paid off.

When Kuenster was a senior in high school, she tried to decide whether to attend the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, or her home state's school, the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Although she says, "I was super indecisive when I went to college," she had a couple of key things figured out: she wanted to be in a city, and she wanted to study some form of journalism.

"I'm from a farm," Kuenster says. "I was ready to leave that and try something new." After visiting the two schools, Kuenster fell in love with the University of Minnesota, and she knew that its School of Journalism and Mass Communication would be her home for the next four years.

Although Kuenster sometimes worked as many as three jobs at once in order to put herself through school, she always pursued jobs that would aid her in her future career.

Kuenster took advantage of her Spanish studies minor and her journalism major when she worked as an intern at a Twin Cities Spanish/English bilingual newspaper, La Prensa de Minnesota. "I think you should have to work in college," she says. The experience gained can help students round out their education and gives them something to offer a potential employer.

Kuenster also worked on campus for CLA's Career and Community Learning Center (CCLC). CCLC helps students with their academic and professional lives. It provides classes, information, and resources on choosing a major, obtaining service learning positions and internships, researching careers, and preparing for job searches.

Kuenster worked as a peer adviser, helping other students decide what they wanted to do with their lives. Kuenster’s employment at CCLC not only helped others define their future goals, but Kuenster, herself, was able to formulate her own career plan. Kuenster recalls one day deciding, "I want to work for a health and fitness magazine."

To further this goal, Kuenster enrolled in Magazine Editing and Publication (Jour 5174), her favorite CLA course. The class created its own magazine, which Kuenster and her classmates titled, In Magazine. Kuenster was the managing editor of the magazine, which was written, edited, illustrated, designed and laid out by the students in the semester-long course. "I loved how much you got to collaborate," Kuenster recalls.

After graduating in May 2005, Kuenster's hard work and determination paid off when she began her dream internship at Experience Life Magazine, a publication by Lifetime Fitness, available to all Lifetime Fitness members as well as subscribers and customers at local bookstores.

After only a few months, Kuenster's motivation and preparation paved the way for a promotion. Less than four months after graduation, Kuenster became a full-time associate editor at this prominent health and fitness magazine.

Kuenster attributes her achievement to the College of Liberal Arts, especially the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and to the varied jobs she held during her college years. When working and going to school at the same time, "you're always learning," she says.

About this profile: first published Spring 2006; written by Claire Joseph (B.A., Journalism, 2007)