Deshna Maharjan Staff Spotlight Interview
Deshna Maharjan first came to the Rec through the FLASH program as a Freshman, when her advisor recommended the opportunity. Now as a Junior, Deshna has been working in Member Services for almost three years and has been promoted to an Member Services Lead. For Deshna deciding to work at Campus Rec and coming to PSU, both just fell into place. She is originally from Nepal and applied to lots of different schools for the chance to study abroad. When other locations didn’t work out, PSU “just suddenly happened.” Deshna says that at the time, “...it was totally random. I didn't even look into the state, the housing, the city, and everything.” Looking back she is happy things have worked out so well, stating, “...it's good because most of my relatives are here, so it was pretty easy for me to find places to live and just to organize stuff in the beginning.”
In her studies Deshna is on track to graduate next spring with a Civil Engineering degree. Finding her degree path wasn’t a straight shot for Deshna as she originally entered PSU as an Architecture major. Now, she appreciates the broad paths to go with Civil Engineering and is currently interested in the structural and transportation sides of the field. After graduating Deshna hopes to take some time to gain experience before entering graduate school and learning what specialty she enjoys the most. Outside of class Deshna feels passionate about design and infrastructure for things like buildings and bridges. She adds, “I like to look into different structures of buildings and just be amazed by all the architecture, detail, and stuff.” Along with this in her free time Deshna likes to paint and exercise her creativity as well as hike, go out with friends, and just relax.
While working at Member Services Deshna finds many skills transferable to her future career. “I think customer service is itself very useful for me in my field because I have to do a lot of talking…also, just being patient and having that active listening when people ask questions.” She adds that the skills of asking follow up questions to find what a patron really needs or is saying will be extremely helpful to future client relations she may have. Finally, Deshna thinks that the ability to practice professionalism with supervisors, communication, and messaging has aided her skills in the future workplace. Expanding these skills has brought Deshna a lot of unexpected recognition, which have been her most rewarding moments at Campus Rec so far. Aside from random compliments, Deshna also felt very accomplished when she won the Wellbeing Values Award during Winter term of last year, “That was pretty amazing because I didn't know and I didn't expect that other people were actually watching and noticing.”
Through her time working at Campus Rec Deshna has recognized that, “it has been such an amazing place to grow myself.” Initially the flexibility of the position and getting to work with motivating and positive coworkers and leaders made all the difference to Deshna. She says, “When I came here, I was just a very quiet person and just knew doing my work and not being involved too much. But I think now I have been learning so much from other people, and working with other people. Mainly just how to make that space for yourself and make the work much better.” This motivation and growth led to Deshna picking up the MS Lead position and exploring other leadership opportunities. Wellbeing and inclusion are important values to Deshna and she always enjoys promoting those values, so that others can access the supportive growth environment that she did here at CREC.
In terms of Deshna’s personal wellbeing, she enjoys going to the climbing center and is interested in utilizing the pool and GroupX classes more often. She has found that exploring more and getting to know your coworkers and supervisors across the Rec is important because, “They're all really, really good at supporting you and others." For incoming students in general, Deshna hopes that they can not only focus on their studies, but also to explore jobs, clubs, and other opportunities. She says that, “When I was freshman, I didn't really get involved in campus. I just came here to study and then went home. So I didn't really enjoy it as much. But later during my sophomore year, when I started joining clubs and taking on different leadership roles, that really got me to see the campus more and meet more people and connect with them, and that's how I made a lot of my friends too."