Caffeinating the Student Union

Social Work major, Class of 2016 Hometown: Kodiak, Alaska Fun Fact: Manages the Student Union coffee shop, Union Station Café

You may already know Katey Doyle if you're a regular at Union Station Café here on campus. She spends a lot of time in her "second home," UAA's Student Union. If she's not doing schoolwork, Katey's making sure a talented staff of baristas are brewing up fresh, hot happiness...I mean coffee...fueling student, staff and faculty excellence Monday-Friday.

She arrived at UAA in 2013 after a year at Kodiak College. UAA was the economical, close-to-home-but-not-too-close option for Katey and her boyfriend to finish their undergraduate degrees. She had her sights set on a history degree with teaching as a possible career goal. But, a year and half in, she found herself leaning toward a new goal and changed her major to social work.

"I realized with that degree I could actually help people one on one," she said. After researching social work career paths and graduate schools, she's thinking Boston may be her next move after graduation in May 2016.

Working with moms-to-be and new mothers

"I'm really interested in medical social work and there aren't too many programs throughout the country that have a concentration in that," said Katey. Boston College and Boston University are both contenders. Before she enters a graduate program across the country, though, she's looking forward to gaining a little more experience here at UAA. Next year, she'll be required to complete a social work practicum.

"I'm really interested in maternal and child health," she said. So for her practicum, she'd love to be matched up with a women's health center or Providence's maternity ward to gain experience as a perinatal social worker.

"There's so much you can do with social work. [Perinatal social workers] work with moms throughout their pregnancies. Once they have their babies, up to the first year," she explained. "It's a short window of time working with somebody, but I think it's so interesting. You can do infertility counseling. If someone loses a child, you're part of that team helping them go through the grieving process."

Down time and trying new things

When Katey isn't busy planning for the future or seeing to the coffee needs of the masses, she's content to spend quality time with her boyfriend and their furry pal, Faith.

"She's amazing," said the clearly unbiased Katey of her miniature poodle/shih tzu mix.

She's also a big basketball fan, cheering for the Seawolves in their new arena, or keeping an eye out for Kodiak's team to make it to Anchorage so she can go cheer for her hometown boys and girls. "I can't shoot a basket to save my life, but I love to watch it," she said with a laugh.

While she may not have a future as a baller, she did decide to revive her athletic past this semester and enroll in a dance class to blow off some steam (note: not intended as a barista joke).

Katey began dancing when she was three and went on to become co-captain of her high school dance team. "But this is hip-hop. It's a little outside my comfort zone. I haven't danced since I graduated high school, so I'm trying to get back into it."

Making it easy to treat your friends

Katey has been working closely with other Student Union staffers to make sure the UAA community feels comfortable on campus. To that end, she and her colleagues have been pushing through some changes at Union Station and in the student lounge.

"It's important that people from age 18-75-any age, really-can come here and feel comfortable," she said. "We're working on it."

Katey's also just launched "Make a Day, Give a Drink" at Union Station. "Students or anyone can buy a $4 gift coupon and give it to whoever they feel deserves a drink," she said. (I nominate me, but you're free to choose people you actually know.)

So, next time you stop in at the Station for a fill up, consider spreading the love around campus. While the gift coupons are $4, they do come with complimentary smiles from Katey's staff.

Written by Jamie Gonzales, UAA Office of University Advancement