2021 student employee scholarship winners

Maria Catenacci, Senior

Majors: Product Design and Environmental and Sustainability Studies

I started working at the library in January 2020. I work at the Virtual Reality Lab. We have a lot of awesome new technology including VR headsets, 3D printers, flight simulators and more.  

My goal is to find a design-related job working in human-centered design. My experience with emerging technologies is a skill I value and I believe that will be useful in the design industry. This scholarship has helped me by bringing me one step closer to financial freedom. School is so expensive today and every single scholarship helps and adds up. 

My experience at WMU has taught me that there is so much to do and explore in this world. It has diversified my interests and made me a more open-minded person. 

Jacob Remington, Sophomore  

Major: Food Marketing 

I work as part of the User Services department. If I'm here, you'll see me up at the front, at the main desk or even just running back trying to find holds or books for patrons. 

Some of my goals after Western are going into a career that I can apply data analytics to and working for a company like Meijer, Coca Cola or Pepsi. Also, outside of Western and academics, I'm a big soccer coach. I love doing that and I'm really passionate about it. 

It's okay going into college not knowing what you want to do. I started off in engineering and now I've ended up in business college. I think it's all just part of the learning process of really being able to find and experiment with what you actually want to go into for the rest of your life. 

I think the biggest thing I've learned working here is how to work with people from so many different backgrounds. There's not two people who work here who come from the same background or are going into the same major or have any of the same life stories. It's really incredible to be able to work with people with so many insights and stories and just learn from all of them and coexist with everyone.  

This scholarship has a huge impact for me because I'm looking into potentially studying abroad next spring. It's been a dream of mine for a few years now and being able to have this award is just one step closer to making the dream a reality. 

Nayla Contejean, junior 

Major: Secondary Education 

I work in User Services. We mainly help out patrons, pulling books for them, helping with laptops. I also work with MeLCat and Interlibrary Loan stuff, which means I help send books across the nation and internationally. 

I want to teach either middle school or high school. I’m probably going to go back to Detroit and work in Detroit Public Schools. But I really want to work on social justice within the classroom. 

I’ve learned to be patient with people. Students need a lot of attention and a lot of care in the classroom. And they all come from different backgrounds.  A lot of times teachers don’t know what their background is, so being patient with them and being able to help them in ways they might not get at home or outside of the classroom. 

We’re a community at Western. It’s important to connect with people and create those connections within your realm and community to elevate yourself within your career, help others out and bring in new ideas. 

[This scholarship’s] been a big help for me personally, financially. I’ve gotten a lot of congratulations. I was really excited when I got it.