by Josiah Eberly
On Oct. 6, LC State held a Career Fair in the Activity Center, with over 70 vendors. Students passed the many different booths and connected with job recruiters.
One memorable booth was for a gas station/convenience store hybrid by the name of “nomnom.” Over the past several months, nomnoms have been popping up all over Spokane as well as Coeur d’Alene. The store chain was originally called “Cenex Zip Trip,” until they were purchased and renamed in 2018. The recruiter at the nomnom Career Fair booth oversees the stores in the Lewiston area.
Of those Lewiston area stores they had 16 positions still available, with more positions available over the 29 locations spread across the Pacific Northwest.
They offer immediate tuition reimbursement and flexible schedules for students working on achieving their degrees. The nomnom stores are looking for students who can run the registers, help customers, and help create a great work environment.
The recruiter mentioned that a cheerful, outgoing personality is what they are really looking for in applicants. At the LC Work Scholars booth, there was the Director for Student Employment, Erin Cassetto. Cassetto shared how in 2015 she worked with several people from AmeriCorps, volunteers who are in service to the betterment of America to create this program. It was a unique idea, and one that quickly took off.
The first semester that the program was offered, 11 students participated, and that number only grew the next semester. The program was so successful that Cassetto was approved to receive double the funding she was given originally. The LC Work Scholars Program gives current students the opportunity to work either on or off campus to start building up their work experience in meaningful ways.
The program only requires ten hours of work a week, and the student’s tuition is completely covered with a stipend for other costs that come up during the semester. About 35 percent of graduating students who participated in the program were debt free, and the rest of the students only averaged $13,000 of student debt. Another benefit, especially for first generation college students, is that the program allows students to start networking early, helping them find a great job right out of college.
Cassetto said that there was a former student named Kylie Wilson, an Earth Science major, who participated in the program several years ago. The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was looking for someone to update their aquifer atlas to make it more accessible for different age groups. Wilson was able to use her skills in Geographic Information Systems to produce an online atlas.
The DEQ was so happy with her work that they expanded her project. The LC Work Scholars program has helped many students achieve similar results in their respective fields. There are even LC Work Scholars opportunities for satellite students in the Coeur d’Alene area.
There was also a current LC Work Scholar at the booth, and she shared her experiences in the program. Carely Melena, a law major, said she learned about the program from a friend who mentioned it to her. She works for The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), a program that teaches agriculture to students whose parents/guardians do not have large incomes.
Melena mentors freshmen in the program, and does a lot of legal work. When asked about what the best part of the program was, Melena said, “It pushes you to get better in the outside world.”
Cassetto responded to the same question, and reflected on the impact of the program. “The jobs are so rewarding,” Cassetto said, “You are really doing something in the community.” The deadline for the fall semester was Oct. 14th. For students who are interested in joining the program next semester, more information can be found at https://www.lcsc.edu/workscholars/interestedstudents.