Alumni Spotlight

 

Richard Cush, BS '22 SOC

First of all, the Department of Sociology at Illinois State University has some of the finest and highly respected teachers I had the pleasure of meeting and being a student in their care. During my time at Illinois State University from 2020-2022, I have had the pleasure of exploring different aspects of Sociology to help me better understand how society operates and why we behave the way we do. The department of Sociology has helped me better understand how to interact with people and made me grasp more difficult subjects such as Gerontology, third world countries problems, and viewing the world through different perspectives. The classes I had enrolled into have also helped me gain more experience on my favorite subject of writing academic papers and have fortified my skills on formulating a more intelligent paper on disputing my main topic. My experience in taking classes in the subject of Sociology has helped me become better socially as I was able to acquire skills to help me become better at communicating, understanding, and analyzing situations so I can be a more helpful person in tough situations. This skill has become handy outside of the classroom as I was able to better help or diffuse situations that I don't believe I could have done without the use of improved communication, better understanding or awareness of the situation, and better analysis of key points in the situation. I believe the department of Sociology and all its fine teachers will be the key for gaining some valuable skills in analysis, communication, and problem solving that will help you not only in your professional career but also in your personal life as well.

In terms of what I am doing now, I have been working as a Customer Fulfillment Associate in a newly built Amazon facility to help get a jump start on my student loans. I love the job as I use my skills I learn from my time at Illinois State University to help me complete my job. As for accomplishments, I recently started and finished a commercial driver license course through Amazon Career Choice to understand and be able to drive semi trucks. I have also been able to fulfill many job opportunities at Amazon through the use of my degree in sociology. I started as a Stower, which my job responsibility was to help bring and stow different customer products in the correct bins for future order placements. The second job I was in charge of was the role of Picker. For this job I was trained in the use of a forklift in order to get directions to the correct bin from my dispatcher to find and pick out the customer product for shipment. Lastly, I was trained in the role of Learning Ambassador. This is where my degree in Sociology really did shine. With the use of my effective communication skills, problem solving skills, and understanding the situation, I was able to effectively train and teach the new employees of Amazon to effectively do their job well and ensure speedy customer order delivery. The next goal I have for myself is to be able to join the Human Resource Department at my Amazon Fulfillment Center to provide better help for my employees and make their lives a bit less stressful. Going forward with my academic career, I have recently applied to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign department of Library Science to pursue a degree in Information Science. My time spent at Illinois State University and the knowledge gained from my studies in Sociology should help me succeed in my future endeavors as I'm always looking for new subjects to learn because I see learning a new skill as expanding my knowledge and giving me confidence in my success of gaining more talent and skills in my lifetime.

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