Meet UITS Student Workers

What is your name? Where do you work and what is your major?

Abby: My name is Abby Lefevre, and I’m a student worker in the Tech Zone. I’m a Human Development and Family Sciences major, and a Sports Recreation Leadership minor.

Grant: Hi! My name is Grant Grunden. I’m a student worker with our UITS 24/7 Service Desk and I’m an Accounting major.

Sam: My name is Sam Chavez-Hernandez. I’m a student worker with the UITS 24/7 Service Desk and a Cyber Operations major with an emphasis in Cyber Engineering.

How did you decide you wanted to work for UITS? 

Abby: I decided to work at the Tech Zone because I had a friend working there at the time, and she spoke highly of the job. 

Grant: The 24/7 job for me actually ended up being a lucky break. My current roommate works for the Health Sciences department and let me know that 24/7 needed a few more student workers. I jumped in and ended up sending one of the best emails of my life.

Sam: When I was looking for a campus job, I applied to a lot of different positions and faced quite a few rejections along the way. When I found the 24/7 position, it almost seemed too good to be true because it aligned with what I was studying. When I found out I got the job, I was incredibly excited, and I'm really glad I took the chance and applied.

What is your favorite thing you've learned at your job? 

Abby: My favorite thing I’ve learned at my job was how to work with a variety of personalities to get the job done. 

Grant: My favorite thing I’ve learned at my job is how to efficiently multitask when faced with difficult situations. Taking notes and talking to customers whilst attempting to solve their problem isn’t easy, but it definitely is rewarding.

Sam: One of my favorite things I’ve learned is how to troubleshoot problems when the answer isn’t immediately obvious. There are so many different issues that come through the 24/7, so I’ve gotten much better at asking the right questions, narrowing down what’s causing a problem, and finding a solution. If I ever get stuck, my team is always there to share their knowledge, ideas, and solutions.

What's your favorite time you were able to help someone with your job? 

Abby: My favorite time I was able to help someone was when someone came in with an issue that required their laptop to need to be reset to factory settings. I helped them save everything important on the device to their OneDrive, and we had a great conversation while we worked through it. They ended up returning later with a sweet treat for everyone who was around that day! 

Grant: My favorite time I was able to help someone with my job was when a student dealing with an issue regarding a school related software chatted in. They had a pretty unique problem, and after about 45 minutes of troubleshooting, we were able to figure it out. It felt so rewarding being able to solve their problem after such a long time, and it was amazing to see how grateful they were that they could return to normal operations.

Sam: One of my most memorable interactions wasn't because the issue was particularly difficult. A student called because they were worried they couldn't open a file they needed for a class on their Mac. We got it working, and they had a few other questions that I looked into and helped them with too. Even though the issue seemed relatively small to me, seeing how much my help meant to them made the interaction really rewarding.

What do you do for fun outside of school and work? 

Abby: I play wheelchair rugby for the Steel Roses, the United States’ national women’s team, and for this past low-point season, I played with the Grand Rapids Thunder. I also play wheelchair basketball for the Tucson Lobos D3 and the Arizona Storm. Alongside my teammates on the Arizona Storm, we placed second at nationals last year, first the year prior, and we’re looking for another first-place win this year.

Grant: I’m a part of a few student organizations. I am currently part of SMORES sophomore honorary, working on helping re-found an emerging business fraternity, and a Premier Alumni Council mentor. Along with that, you can catch me at South Rec at 6am every weekday, and at the library studying and hanging out with my friends whenever I can.

Sam: I like going to the gym, playing violin with the University of Arizona Mariachi, drawing, and spending time with friends. 

Students interested in working for the 24/7 Support Center and/or the Tech Zones can check whether there’s a posting in  Handshake. They have the largest student work forces in UITS and their positions are federal work-study eligible. Other UITS departments will also list in Handshake when they have openings. Find out more about Handshake from the Center for Career Readiness.