Staff Spotlight: Erin Diaz
October 16, 2014
I remember the first time I walked into Coffeehouse. It was Christmas of 2012 and spirits were high as there was less than a week left until the long awaited Christmas break. As I walked into the Vines Center, I realized that it wasn’t the Vines Center anymore. It was the epitome of the Christmas season for me. As I looked around, I also realized the community I was sitting among – a community of people cheering, laughing, and trying everything they could to get on the jumbotron.
I wanted to be a part of this. I didn’t want to just come to Coffeehouse anymore; I wanted to be the one to make the decorations, to judge tryouts, to take down decoration thieves, and whatever else came with it. I wanted in.
I interviewed to be a part of Student Activities a few months later, when it was springtime and plans for the next year were starting to be jogged in my mind. When I interviewed, I had no idea that there were so few actual Event Staff that put on these events. I was hired as a receptionist at first, and six months later was offered the switch to Event Staff.
I never could have imagined the implications of joining the Student Activities Event Staff in January 2014. I was never anything short of included and loved as I came into a group of people with diverse, outgoing and creative personalities. This group of people amazes me to no end – the full time staff who care individually for each staff member, the supervisors who work so hard to make sure every need is met, and finally, the Event Staff itself. Ten months after joining, I realize that, when I think about my life, their faces pop into my mind almost as quickly as my family’s. They are more important to me than I ever could have imagined.
I think you really bond with people when you work 20 hour shifts with them. There’s something about being exhausted and then seeing a face that you know and hugging that person that lifts spirits like nothing else. We work often and we work long hours, but the time we spend together is always enjoyable simply because we have each other. This may sound cheesy, but I assure you that you can ask any of the 18 of us if this is true and they will say it is.
Student Activities Event Staff is home for me. Walking into the office almost daily and seeing familiar faces smiling at me is the best highlight of my time here at Liberty. The friends I have made on staff are the people I am inseparable with, in and out of work. Our job is to build and sustain a community of believers that know how to have a lot of fun by providing a variety of events that allow just about everyone to build relationships. And our job immediately reflects what Student Activities is like for those of us who work here: we have become a community of believers that are not just friends, but family.