A Visitor from the Past & A Best Kept Secret on Campus
This weekend, my friend who graduated form the University of Illinois about 3 years ago is visiting. While being with someone who once lived here, but is now only a visitor, it struck me how close my time here is to being up. As nostalgia began to sink in, it dawned on me that one of my favorite parts about the University of Illinois will no longer be here after I leave. One of the best well kept secrets, or simply overlooked by a majority of students on campus, about the University of Illinois is Beckwith Hall.
During my first year at the University of Illinois, I lived in Beckwith Hall as a live-in personal assistant. I was able to provide assistance for 18 hours a week in exchange for room and board. Although I didn’t live there after the first year, I have found my main source of income from Beckwith Hall for the entirety of my stay in Champaign-Urbana. I say source of income because to state it as a job would be an injustice. Some of my best friends at the University are people that I assist throughout the year. With all of the talking, laughter, and overall enjoyment of my time spent there, it seems as though it is as far from a job as you can get while still getting paid.
Although it is a sad thought to know that I can never return to this dorm as it is closing, the reasoning behind its closing completely outweighs these feelings. The new dorms that are being built will merge the formerly very segregated Beckwith residents into the mainstream dorm activities and life. So, if any of you are worried about finding a job once you go to the University of Illinois, I would enthusiastically suggest that you look into being a personal assistant. I know that my college experience would have been significantly different had I not met the amazing people with whom I have come to know and love.
Responses
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11.23.09
1:25 am
It’s unfortunate that so many overlook such opportunities, because Beckwith Hall sounds like it was a fabulous time for you!
11.23.09
5:56 pm
Hey Joe,
If you would like to apply for a position at Beckwith, you can find a copy of the application and the description of what you would be doing at this link:
http://www.disability.uiuc.edu/services/beckwith/index.php?sub=40
They are constantly hiring people and even if shifts happen to fill up, upon being hired your email will be placed on a list-serve where you will receive emails about sub shifts that are available.
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Joe
11.22.09
3:35 pm
Lucas,
I was just admitted for the spring 2010 semester. I was wondering if positions like these were available to transfers and how fast they fill up? How would you go about becoming a personal assistant?