By LAURA RULLO
Contributing Writer
Jacob and Anthony’s hostess in Albany always greets people with a smile when they walk into the restaurant. Nineteen-year old Erika Applebaum, works two or three days at the restaurant to have some work experience and earn some money to pay for her college tuition. As a hostess Applebaum equally distributes the guests to tables when they enter the restaurant. Applebaum enjoys the parts of her job where she gets to interact with the customers who are happy to be there. Requirements of her job that can be challenging are dissatisfied customers and dealing with difficult coworkers. Balancing work, school, and social life is something that Applebaum faces everyday. Applebaum is a junior at the College of Saint Rose and is studying childhood education.
Once she lands a job in a classroom she hopes to make a difference in the lives of the children she teaches. She wants to be a resource for students to talk to if they feel as though they have no one else. She would like to teach in a suburban school, hopefully somewhere in the Northeast. Applebaum is a member of the youth education association at Saint Rose. This is student run organization where students who are interested in getting into the education field can join and find opportunities to work with kids.
“She always comes into classes and club work with a personality that brightens up the room. Happy to have her on the club team,” says Nicholas Rivera, president of the youth education association.
Applebaum has been involved in dance her whole life beginning at Art in Motion dance studio in Albany. She danced there for 15 years doing dance styles such as jazz and hip-hop. Applebaum said that she basically grew up at the studio and met life long best friends there. She went on to join the Guilderland High School dance team and was a member of the Golden Knights dance club at the College of Saint Rose.
Family is something that is a huge part of her life and it is one of the reasons why she chose to go to a school close to home. Applebaum commutes to Saint Rose everyday from her childhood home in Guilderland. Her parents divorced when she was three. She said she doesn’t recall the time of when her parents were together so when they were divorced that became the “normal” for her. She is an only child and is very close with her extended family such as her cousin. She refers to him as “the younger sibling she can send home at the end of the night.” Growing up around her cousin made it seem as though she had a sibling, she said.
“I always appreciate her willingness to share ideas in class or brainstorm about how to figure out a good way to teach a challenging topic. Erika has a great sense of humor and spreads her smile wherever she goes! It’s always nice to see Erika in class or stopping by the office because I know she will have a fun story or a good way to think about an issue,” said Dr. Christina Pfister, education professor at Saint Rose.
