"I’ve learned skills that I don’t think I would've by just sitting in a classroom. I got my foot in the door and feel like I’m way ahead professionally."
Gus Flores is a junior at the University of Utah studying economics with a minor in French, a Student Supervisor at Education at Work and a first-generation student.
Gus says he originally planned to bus tables for the rest of his college career until a friend who worked at EAW told him about the part-time opportunities available to students. He said he was quick to apply because of the tuition assistance program which means a lot to him because he's paying for college on his own.
“I love this position,” says Gus of his student supervisor role. “It was a good opportunity to get the soft skills I was missing. It was a self-conquest. In high school I just wanted to breeze through, get the diploma and get out. I didn’t want anything to do with academics. This position acts as academic involvement for me because I feel like an advisor at times.”
Since high school Gus knew that we would go to college. “My parents always said ‘go to college.’ I wanted to be a first generation student,” says Gus.
As a student heading into his junior year this fall, Gus says graduation continues to push him to do this best inside and outside the classroom. To date Gus has earned more than $5,000 in tuition assistance from EAW.
“I’ve learned skills that I don’t think I would've by just sitting in a classroom. I got my foot in the door and feel like I’m way ahead professionally.”