When I was younger, I always loved the game Guess Who. There’s something about having to ask good questions and getting to describe the whacky people that I just found fascinating. So, in honour of my childhood, who am I?
I am not an athlete, yet I work for the CMU Blazers.
I am not a musician, yet I play flute in CMU’s Concert Band.
I am not a scientist, yet I can tell you about the ecological revolution.
I am not a historian, yet I can tell you about the history of CMU’s building, Mennonites, and Christianity.
I am not a pastor, yet I can explain to you the different atonement theories and various feminist perspectives on the Bible.
I am not a book printer, yet I can set my own type and create my own stamps.
I am not a winner of the leadership scholarship, yet next year I will be CMU’s Student Council President.
Who am I?
I am a writer and an editor.
I am a friend, colleague, student, employee, teacher, speaker, and traveler.
I am a leader and a dreamer.
I am *drum roll please* …… Natasha Neustaedter Barg, a third-year General Social Sciences Major.
But how is it that I am all these things and more?
One of my two on-campus jobs is doing admissions for home sports games at CMU. Thus, I recognize and can name most of CMU’s athletes and I work for the CMU Blazers.
I also work for CMU’s Admissions Team as a Student Ambassador. I call students, inviting them to upcoming events; stuff envelopes to be mailed out; or do other little tasks for the Admissions Counsellors. I also get to give tours at events and learn about CMU’s building. I’ve gotten to learn about its history as a military base, school for the deaf, and all the spooky basement storage areas. I get a free CMU pen occasionally and also get free gelato at CMU’s Open House and Campus Visit Days.
I’m a bit biased, but I think that out of the 42 different on-campus jobs you can have here at CMU, the ones I’ve had are the best. You can also work in the library, clean the lounges, work at reception, shovel snow, and the list goes on. Having an on-campus job has been a great break from the stress of school, fed my Folio Café addiction, and helped me get to know a lot of different people here at CMU.
Through my degree, I take English classes such as History of the Book, where I learn how books were made; or Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies classes, where I learn about restorative justice in education; or Psychology classes, where I learn about trauma and resilience; and the list goes on.
Throughout the past three years, I have learnt how to look at the world through a lot of different lenses. Because of my degree, the jobs I have, and the practicum I did last year, I have something small in common with almost all the students here at CMU. I can talk to athletes about their last home game, to psychology majors about how weird Freud is, to communications majors about David Balzer and his Oral Communication class, and international students about how hard culture shock is.
Last year I did my practicum in Vietnam. For 11 months I taught English at a secondary school and got a small taste of how hard culture shock is and how different school systems can be. Here at CMU everyone is required to do a practicum regardless of what degree you do. These practicums allow us to take what we learn in class and apply it to the world and vice versa.
I am a writer and an editor.
I am a friend, colleague, student, employee, teacher, speaker, and traveler.
I am a leader and a dreamer.
Who am I?
I am a CMU Student.
Natasha Neustaedter Barg is a 3rd year Social Sciences student.