I felt so lucky when I was hired as a receptionist at Blue Mountain Community Colleges branch campus in Hermiston. It was a step up in the right direction from my previous work as a dietary aide at a local retirement home. I had no experience working in an office and was eager to learn with minimum wage pay. Around year two, with only a 10-cent raise, I started feeling unappreciated for my work. Since it was a branch campus, we did everything in one building. I administered/proctored college and state testing, took payments for tuition, set up payment plans and daily deposits, sold books from our tiny bookstore, checked financial aid documents, scanned documents to the main campus, assisted students with registration, assisted adjuncts with new-hire paperwork, assisted professors with tech problems, helped community members with renting rooms, managing work-study students, etc.,.
During a one-on-one with my supervisor, she told me that she wanted to train me on how to complete central purchasing orders as well as how to do monthly bookstore reports. I told her since I would have more responsibility, I should have a pay raise, but she told me no. She continued to say that this would look really good on my resume and she would be more than happy to write a letter of reference once I graduate and pursue my education.
My supervisor never received a complaint about my work from the main campus. Which is why she decided to give me new tasks with higher responsibility. I started as an overachiever but slowly detached myself from my work and decreased my effort. I felt devalued because my work was not worth $12.50.
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