Whether it’s your second semester of your freshman year or your final semester as a Castleton student, chances are a lot of what happens to you is determined by what goes on within the Student Life Office.

 But wait, what is the Student Life Office exactly? You’ve probably heard of it and at least know where it is, but do you really know the extent of what is done in there?

 The first thing you notice when you walk into the Student Life office are the two women with desks on either side of the door. Irene Evanoika and Liz Phillips are administrative assistants and the first to interact with students by directing them where to go.

 Anyone looking for help with job searches, info about an upcoming career fair, resume building or help with declaring a major, is pointed toward the office of the Director of Career Services, Renee Beaupre-White.

 An alumnus of Castleton, Beaupre-White used to work in the career center as a student and worked at Green Mountain College prior to her July 2012 hiring.

 As commencement nears and students are looking for summer jobs, she has seen a recent increase in students requesting her services, especially for help with resumes.

“Students come in saying ‘Help me! I need a job!’ or ‘I need help with my resume’,” she said.

If she could say one thing to the students at Castleton, she would strongly encourage them to treat college like a real job.

“You only have those eight semesters to get involved. You need to take this time seriously because this is the time to build your resume for future employers and recruiters.”

Wondering how you got stuck with that crazy roommate of yours, or how lucky you are that you were randomly assigned a room in the new Hoff Hall this year?

 Just down the hall from Beaupre– White is the office of the Director of Residence Life Michael Robilotto. Robilotto deals with everything related to the residence halls and residence life staff on campus.

 He sees the more serious conduct cases, answers to students wanting to move off campus and ensures that students’ residential experience on campus is safe and enjoyable.

Next up in the line of offices is Victoria Angis, associate dean of Campus Life. Impossible to miss, her office is straight through from the front entrance of the office.

Her responsibilities include managing the Campus Center budget and the Student Orientation program. It is not uncommon for Angis to alsobe running out of the office to a meeting of the Homecoming Committee, Commencement Committee, or Registration Committee to name a few.

No matter how busy she may be, Angis is always willing to put the students first. Encouraging SOS leaders to step out of their boxes, she plays a major role in fostering student leaders who in turn, become important assets to the college.

Anyone looking to negotiate the terms of their Soundings grades can find SallyAnn Majoya in the Student Life Office as well, right next door to Angis.

Majoya is the Soundings coordinator as well as assistant director of cultural programming, which means she organizes and plans the programs, manages the budget and ensures that Soundings faculty is prepared for each Soundings event and discussion.

She also serves as the administrator of the Soundings course, responsible for the grading, creating brochures and calendars, updating Moodle and answering all questions and concerns.

“I love being able to broaden other people’s horizons and knowledge about the Liberal Arts,” said Majoya, who also plays the harp for patients who are in hospice at the Cancer Center.

Majoya encourages students to contact her or attend a Cultural Affairs Committee meeting if they have ideas to improve Soundings.

The final employee whose office is housed within the greater office is Dennis Proulx, dean of students. Proulx facilitates the staff in the Student Life Department. He alsoco-chairs the Emergency Response Team on campus,using skills he has acquired through his work as the coordinator of the Rutland County Disaster Action Team for the American Red Cross and apply them to the campus.

Formally the director of Residence Life, Proulx has been an employee at Castleton for nine years. Along with Beaupre-White, Proulx is also a Castleton alumnus.

Proulx said he stayed at Castleton because he loves the profile of the students.

“The students generally need me. The students come (to Castleton) and have a transformed experience and I get to be the facilitator of the system that causes that,” said Proulx.

Even though he occasionally has to meet with students are in trouble or at risk, Proulx says that the students are his favorite part of his job.

“The staff in this office are all dedicated to our students. I don’t think anyone in here works for the money or the prestige of their title. They mostly work here because they like our students and want to see what is best for them,” said Proulx.