MESSIAH'S Hannah Colegrove HEROES UNSUNG

WRITTEN BY ETHAN REISLER

DESIGNED BY AMBER SWAISGOOD AND ALLYSON LYNDAKER

Finding a balance between school and personal life can be difficult — throw in a job and things get messy, but Hannah Colegrove has it all figured out.

Working as a full-time retail supervisor for the Union, Colegrove still manages to find the time to pursue a double major in dance and psychology, even into her final semester as a senior. With the past four years of working at the Union to back her up, she’s taken a new role this semester managing other students while working with other supervisors.

It takes intention to draw the boundaries between her workload and academics, making sure her responsibilities don’t bleed into one another, but with her peers as well.

“It’s very much like wearing two different hats,” Colegrove said. “I’m a supervisor at Union, and then as soon as I step out, I swap out hats and I’m back to being a student.”

Elbow grease isn’t needed when wearing the “student hat.” The Union recognises and respects her schedule around classes, and so there’s never been trouble with the possibility of homework and supervising overlapping. Besides, Colegrove intentionally planned her years at Messiah to give her the extra breathing room needed for a stress-free senior year.

When it comes to wearing her “supervisor hat,” she’s done a great job supervising fellow students, resolving conflicts in the workplace, delegating shifts and even making the posters hung around the Union. And by being a student (and a decade younger than the other supervisors), she’s gained the opportunity to get to know her coworkers on a more personal level.

“You have to get to know the students and who they are, and what roles they best fit. I have to get to know those students,” Colegrove said. A fellow retail supervisor at the Union, Adam Barron recognises the unique ability Colegrove has in her new position.

“She can talk to the students if they’re having a bad week, but some of the other managers can’t do that because of how long we’ve been out of academia,” Barron said. “She can step into their world, boost them up and help them along so they’re not derailed while on the shift.” It all came together in such a short span of time no less — Colegrove only assumed the role of a retail supervisor this spring semester — but with four years to learn the ins-and-outs of the Union as a worker, her promotion lets her tackle the difficulties of managing others and overlooking the work done at the Union. Even now, she’s always ready to learn something new. Colegrove understands the unfamiliarity a change like this brings for others, and is constantly open to accepting advice and leadership from her fellow supervisors.

Colegrove is already cooking up plans for the future. The possibility for a gap year is still in the air, but after graduating, Colegrove is sure she’ll enroll into Messiah’s graduate program to earn her master’s degree in psychology — she wants to be a counselor and dance teacher.

“This is where I’m planning on staying. It’s a solid job that I don’t have to worry about while working for my masters degree,” said Colegrove.

Colegrove has transitioned from part-time to full-time at the Union, and although her time as an undergraduate is coming to an end, you’ll still be able to find her overlooking the Union as she studies for her master’s — poke your head in, and say hi!

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