On senior Susena Finnegan’s last day working at Jilly Beans café before traveling to Kansas for the summer, a regular customer came through the door. Often, she came with gifts. Once, it was a doll, another time, an espresso glass.
“She brought me a watermelon,” Finegan said with a chuckle. “She said, ‘I knew you were leaving, so I thought of you and brought you this watermelon.’ That was the funniest thing that had happened to me, but those types of interactions happen all the time.”
About 40 percent of students at Hillsdale College have found part-time employment with the school or Bon Appétit Management Company. A number, however, have ventured off the campus block to work at local businesses. As a result, they said they have grown closer with Hillsdale residents and have helped to bridge the apparent divide between the community and the college.
A Hillsdale native herself, Finegan said working at Jilly Beans has kept her connected to the local community — something she wishes her classmates would experience more.
“I know in my heart townies are not what college students perceive them to be,” Finegan said. “They’re genuine people, and you can make those relationships by working downtown or getting involved. You see them from a different angle.”
Forming such relationships with customers at Rosalie’s restaurant in Jonesville has been the highlight of junior Beth Stalter’s experience working off-campus, she said. It also introduced her to issues in the community and residents’ views of the college.
“When you go to Hillsdale, you get kind of stuck in that college bubble,” Stalter said. “I figured that Hillsdale was the main employer of the town, so to hear people were unhappy with it was kind of surprising to me. I didn’t realize how much politics were involved and how much we as college students can improve our relationship with the town by getting involved in the community.”
Stalter began waitressing at Rosalie’s during the summer after her sophomore year. A year and a half later, Stalter said she still enjoys working at the restaurant, which pays more than many of the jobs available on school grounds.
Rosalie’s has strengthened Stalter’s connections with the college, too. After serving Career Services Director Joanna Wiseley’s table at Rosalie’s, Stalter is now working with her to find internships. A run-in with college Chief of Staff Mike Harner on the job led Stalter to an opportunity to give the invocation at a recent luncheon for the Women’s Commissioners.
Stalter said she has taken what she has learned about the community with her. Her interactions with its members have lead her to volunteer at the Community Action Agency, working with preschoolers from low-income households.
The conversations that arise from Checker Records coffee are the highlight of working there as a barista, junior Isabelle Parell said. Whether those conversations are with her bosses, coworkers, or the patrons at the coffeeshop or when she runs into them at the grocery store, Parell said the relationships she has built make starting her shifts at 6 a.m. worthwhile.
“I feel like when I come back after graduation, it won’t just be for the college,” she said. “It’ll be for the town, too.”
Some of Parell’s first memories of Hillsdale were at Checker Records from when she visited her older sister at college — “the coffee is almost in my blood,” she said. After moving to college herself, she submitted three applications to the coffee shop, called numerous times, and then secured a job by directly asking the owner for a barista position.
Working at Checker Records has given her an escape from the academics on campus but also more responsibility, she said. It has taught her how to work with her boss when it comes to scheduling shifts as well as how to better manage time. Her 21st birthday was an early night because she had to work in the morning.
“I knew I had to be careful, because it felt like they relied on me more,” Parell said. “I feel like I am an integral part of Checker Records.”
Finegan and Stalter agreed that working off campus takes an extra dose of responsibility. They both work at least 12 hours per week, and there typically is not time to do homework while on the clock.
“It has to be a commitment,” Stalter said. “Working off campus, it’s a little bit more like working in the real world, I think. I can’t not go. It takes a lot of time managing. It’s helped me adult up.”
Plus, as a student, Parell said she becomes a face for the college in the community, which carries some extra consideration, too. Being present, however, is the way to bridge the college-community divide, she said.
Finegan, Parell, and Stalter all agreed they feel the relationships they have built help with that.
“I encourage my friends to get involved and go into town,” Stalter said. “I think it’s important for Hillsdale College students to represent themselves in the community — otherwise that relationship just isn’t going to grow.”