Work-study isn’t always about filing paperwork and dusting shelves. In fact, if you’re talented enough, you might even end up in front of a classroom leading a lab.

This might not be for everyone, but for Carolyn M. Pfeifer, it was part of what earned her the Creighton Student Employee of the Year award. Chosen from among 34 nominees, she was the 15th recipient of the award. Pfeifer, a senior Nursing student, received the award for her work in the Office of Medical Education.

“Everyone in the office kept it a secret,” Pfeifer said. “Thursday of last week I was at my parents’ house on the computer and just said, ‘You will not believe what my e-mail says!'”

Her typical duties include general office work, such as working the phones, stuffing handouts, stocking the printers or even occasionaly watering the plants. However, it was her expertise in medical practice – thanks to her Nursing background – that set her apart from other workers.

“Her health science expertise has proved invaluable as we set up equipment for medical physiology laboratory sessions for the second-year medical students,” said Dr. William Jeffries, her nominating supervisor, in his nomination form. “She was so familiar with the theory and practice of the labs that, on one occasion, she taught the lab to medical students for two hours when a faculty instructor was called away.”

Pfeifer saw it as a chance to get out of the office and gain some valuable experience.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with students and help out with labs, having taken classes from the same professors,” Pfeifer said. “It’s been a good opportunity to review my own material while I help the other students as well.”

It was this prowess as both student and employee that made Pfeifer a model recipient for the award.

“She was truly able to integrate what she was learning in the classroom with what she had to do on the job,” said Therese McGrath, assistant director of financial aid for student employment.

The decision process is intense, but uplifting, McGrath said. She and three other staff members independently review and rank the nominees, eventually determining the winner based on their aggregate scores.

“It’s really impossible to say a single person is the best, but the winner is always representative of what’s best about Creighton’s student employees,” McGrath said.