Quincy University is home to a layered awakening of its campus community. Athletes rushing to training sessions, doors being opened by the staff, and graduate assistants actively performing their duties. Two of those people have quite unique jobs that contribute differently to the student experience.

Katalina Lopez is one of the graduate assistants at the Student Development office. Her office can be found on the corner next to success coaches, and it’s full of motivational posters, books on leadership skills, and a packed schedule. The main goal of her work is to foster development of students not only in terms of their education, but socialization too.

Every morning Katalina starts working by checking emails of student organizations. They might need advice on how to organize a particular event, or help with coping with the responsibilities of being a leader of something bigger than just yourself.

“What I like most about being a GA is being able to support students on campus, whether that’s mentally, academically, whatever they need. I love being a support system for them,” Lopez said.

For Maya Wong, life on the other side of the campus is quite different. Being a graduate assistant to the women’s basketball team, Maya lives her life at full speed and revolves around timetables and performance. She usually spends her mornings in the gym and then joins practices and other activities from there.

Maya assists the coaches in all areas, from arranging practices to reviewing videos of games played. He stays alert and concentrated during matches while watching out for plays and assisting wherever necessary. However, just like Katalina, there is more to her work than meets the eye.

“Well I wanted to give back what I got from basketball. I mean I’ve gotten two degrees from playing the game of basketball, and I’ve gotten so many friends and mentors just from playing over the past 20 years, and I just felt like I owed it back to the game and kind of give back my knowledge,” Wong said.

Katalina makes efforts to develop good connections with her athletes by asking about their studies, their stress, and how they feel in general. She understands the complexity of being both a student and an athlete, and it is sometimes too tiring for them to cope with all challenges they have to overcome.

While Katalina and Maya do not often meet, there is much common between them in terms of their activities. They both strive to achieve positive results for their students in different environments: Katalina empowers them at meetings and workshops while Maya motivates and trains her athletes during practices.

It becomes clear that there are many ways for graduate assistants to support students and help them succeed. For example, Quincy University can be proud of having many great representatives of graduate assistants who are making a contribution to their academic achievements.