Student leaders leave their mark on Virginia Tech Housing and gain experience

At Virginia Tech’s 24-hour Housing Services desk in New Hall West, the work does not stop when classes end. 

Families check into residence halls for commencement weekend, and guests arrive for camps and conferences after most students leave campus for the summer. Phones ring as staff members answer questions from incoming Hokies preparing for campus life. 

For student leaders Jac Noel, Jaela Tucker, Emilie Worrell, and Sarah Hamblin, that work became a defining part of their college experience. 

“We’ve spent about 20 hours a week, every week for the past three years, in this building. And summers,” said Worrell, a political science major with a minor in science, technology, and law. 

The group began working in Housing Services in 2023, learning the basics of desk operations, conference turnover, and residence hall preparation. Over time, they became experienced leaders trusted to train new student employees.

For Noel, a creative technologies major, some of the strongest memories were made during late-night summer shifts.

“There was a group of us that would hang out all the time while doing our work,” Noel said. Shared shifts and calm moments in between allowed the students to connect more deeply than during academic semesters.

Those summers showed the group a version of Virginia Tech that many students never see. They experienced a quieter Blacksburg filled with late-night desk shifts, empty pools, movie marathons, shared meals, and long conversations between coworkers who spent nearly every week together.

“Being here over the summer is peaceful,” Worrell said. “There’s no traffic, it isn’t busy, and you really get to know people.” 

Tucker, a construction engineering and management major, said the role helped her recognize how much happens behind the scenes to support student life.

“As a first-year student, if I didn’t need anything from Housing, I didn’t really think about it,” Tucker said. “Now I have more appreciation for what people here do.”

“We definitely saw Housing differently when we first started,” Noel said. “As leads, we’re given a lot more trust and responsibility. New student hires come to us now if they’re nervous to ask the pro staff questions, but back then we were scared too.”

Worrell said the experience helped her discover an unexpected interest in operations. 

“I like paperwork, contracts, scheduling, and meetings,” Worrell said. “I know some people think that stuff is boring, but I enjoy it.”

Sarah Hamblin, a marketing management major, enjoyed designing training materials and brainstorming new systems for future student employees.

“I feel like I’ve been able to make an impact that will hopefully last longer term,” Hamblin said.

Hamblin said answering phones and assisting families also helped her become more confident in communicating and speaking publicly. 

For Tucker, the significance of her experience became clear in her senior year after receiving an award that Housing nominated her for.

“For a long time, I felt like I was just going through school and not really making an impact,” Tucker said. “Getting that recognition made me realize maybe I did.” 

As the group prepares to graduate, shifts have become a place for conversations about their experiences and their futures.

“I think the people here really defined my college experience,” Worrell said. “Classmates, coworkers, pro staff, people in Blacksburg. I’ve learned a lot by meeting people from different backgrounds.” 

“We’ve spent so much time here,” Hamblin said. “It’s weird thinking about what it’ll be like when we leave.”

In recent months, the student leaders have focused on training new employees, creating manuals, and documenting processes to help the next group transition into their roles. 

“We’ve been here for so long,” Noel said. “It’s bittersweet wondering who’s going to take on these jobs next.”