Between academic, athletic, club and on-campus job involvement, Grinnell students breathe air into a communal bubble that envelopes and surrounds the College. Many students choose to work off campus as a means to pop the bubble and break into the broader Grinnell community while building valuable skills within the town.
“It’s really easy to get caught in this Grinnell bubble. It’s a little suffocating for me sometimes to be with the same 2,000 people every single day,” Katya Lackey `27 said.
She works as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for the Grinnell Fire Department, reporting to scenes of medical emergencies throughout the town.
“I really like being an EMT. It’s a job that is really fulfilling and fun to me,” Lackey said. She also works as a German tutor but is limited in how much she can work on campus — the College limits on-campus jobs to 20 hours per week. The additional hours and pay that Lackey enjoys off campus allows her to work around this limitation.
Working at Dari Barn, Jane Hoffman `25 has also enjoyed “expanding her horizons” and connecting with community members beyond campus.
“When I came to college, I knew I wanted to live in a place where I could be a part of both the school community and the town community,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman chose to pursue an off-campus job because she desired higher wages. When she began working at Dari Barn during her first year at the College, the minimum wage for on-campus employment was $9.25 – it has since been increased to $13 in the current academic year.
Like Lackey, Hoffman also works on- and off-campus jobs simultaneously. She works as a mentor in the Global Kitchen, which she said gives her an opportunity to explore her passions on campus.
Arlo Beckman ’24 and Sam Pokharel ’25 both expressed that their jobs at McNally’s Foods have connected them to students, professors and community members in an off-campus environment.
“I really enjoy getting the chance to meet people in the town. I think a lot of students go through their four years here and don’t really get to experience Grinnell,” Beckman said.
“If I was getting paid more on campus, I still think I would prefer to work at McNally’s Foods because of the relationships I’ve built there with the owner and my managers,” Pokharel added.
She has also built relationships with community members through the McNally’s Foods community poster board, where community members advertise events.
“It makes me more involved outside of campus. On campus, it allows me to be more involved because of my flexibility with my McNally’s Foods schedule,” Pokharel said.
Sasha Grigorovich ’20, Careers, Life and Service (CLS) exploratory advisor, said that “there is a lot of value that comes from meeting people in the community rather than just sticking to the College.”
However, Grigorovich mentioned that most on-campus jobs are likely more accommodating than off-campus ones since they are directly linked to the College and offer students more flexibility to address academic commitments.
He also said that “a lot of on-campus jobs are really geared to be learning experiences for students. There really isn’t a bottom line of needing to turn a profit.”
Despite this, Grigorovich said that working off campus prepares students for work after college.
“I think it is very important to learn from different places other than just the classroom,” Grigorovich said.
