Recently, Idalia and Marcie, two of our front desk office assistants have taken on internship roles here at the center. They are both majoring in Human Resources Development and are required to complete a 400-hour internship during their final semester, but weren’t ready to leave BGCC. They worked with our administrative team to create two HR-focused internship programs to gain professional experience. Idalia and Marcie have both been a crucial part of the BGCC front desk team and we are excited to see them build upon their current knowledge and skills and prepare to enter the workforce as professionals after they graduate in May.

Idalia Rodriguez ‘23

Idalia’s journey at BGCC began in the summer of 2021 when her advisor reached out to her about the office assistant position here. This was Idalia’s first ever job and since then has grown close with all of the staff and administrators. In fact, one of Idalia’s favorite things about her job is “working with [other] college students, learning together, and forming close friendships with them!”

Idalia’s new role as an intern will require her to focus on the training aspect of Human Resources. Through her internship, she will have the opportunity to learn a new online system that will allow BGCC to digitally track training hours for all full-time employees. She will work closely with her internship supervisor, Krista, to develop more training resources for employees and update/organize training materials for the front desk staff. When asked what skills she hopes to gain through her internship and use after college, Idalia said, “I have built great interpersonal skills since I started here. I used to be shy [about] greeting parents when they walked through the doors, but my confidence has improved [and I have become more open] to ask[ing] for help.” This spring, she hopes to improve her professional skills and use this experience to help her transition with confidence into new workplaces in the future. Idalia is challenging herself to learn new things and feels “it is rewarding to know you are actually learning, while getting to see the kids every day- they are way too cute!” 

Marcie Mayeaux ‘23

Marcie was a Nanny all throughout high school, so when looking for an on-campus job that aligned with her major, felt the office assistant position at BGCC would allow her to gain HR experience while still working with children.

 In Marcie’s new role as an intern, she is taking on talent recruitment, employee engagement, and interpersonal communications. Through her internship, she will assist Debbie and Liz with the hiring process for student employee positions. She will learn about everything from payroll to off-boarding while also continuing to assist with other business functions and front desk tasks. Marcie feels the most challenging aspect of her internship this semester will be managing her time, as “it can be difficult to drop a task in progress and immediately have to pick up a new one.” Yet, she says it is rewarding “to watch [her] work come to life.[She] gets to observe the early stages of journeys at BGCC and see someone go from being nervous about an interview to gaining real experience in the classroom and growing in their confidence.”

When asked about how she plans to use the skills she has built through her time at BGCC after college, Marcie says, “I have developed strong problem-solving skills from working in this fast-paced environment. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected, and I’m hoping if I’m familiar with some of the processes I’ll be doing, it will help ease my transition. I’ve learned so much about diversity from engaging with the families and celebrating different cultures that it has given me a strong passion for inclusion, which is something I plan to use [in my future career] to foster a diverse work culture where employees feel safe and empowered to grow in their abilities.” Marcie is grateful for the time the administrative team has put into her success and the way they make her feel important to the organization saying, “It is inspiring to see how passionate this team is about achieving their goals and I feel lucky to work alongside such a genuine group of people.”

We are grateful for the dedication Idalia and Marcie have to BGCC and their willingness to learn to make the center run smoothly while challenging themselves to kick start their career and try new things.