Tayana Martin, a junior majoring in sport and leadership studies with a minor in sign language, is gaining hands-on experience as an operations specialist with Ennovar at Wichita State. A lifelong Wichitan, Tayana supports student hiring and corporate partnerships while building skills that will serve her well after graduation.
More than 5,000 Shockers each year take what they’ve learned in the classroom and transfer that knowledge into real-world environments. Applied learning — which is required for every Wichita State student — happens in offices, factories, laboratories, nonprofits, industries and companies across the globe. Students work side-by-side with seasoned professionals to ensure that they’re fully prepared to make meaningful contributions to their employers and their communities when they graduate.
What is your hometown?
Wichita, Kansas
What high school did you graduate from?
Wichita Heights High School
What is your year and major?
Junior majoring in sport and leadership studies with a minor in American sign language. I am expected to graduate this upcoming December.
Why did you choose Wichita State?
I am from Wichita so I’ve been aware of WSU my whole life and wanted to stay home and go to college.
What is your job title, the company you work for, and your duties during your applied learning experience?
My job title is operations specialist, and I work for Ennovar here at WSU. My daily duties include scheduling interviews with students for positions within our corporate partners, conducting onboarding tasks with new student employees prior to their first shift, marketing for Ennovar on social media and office assistant for my account manager bosses.
How did you learn about this opportunity?
I was job searching on the WSU jobs website and applied for the position.
How is this experience helping you build your resume and prepare you for your career?
This position is a great resume-builder because I get to work with the operations team, connect with corporate partners around the Wichita area, and help students find positions with those partners.
If this is a paid applied learning position, how have the additional funds shaped your college experience — financially, academically or personally?
I am grateful to have parents who help me fund my college fees. I live on my own so this job helps fund my living expenses.
How have your classes and experiences at Wichita State prepared you to succeed in this applied-learning opportunity?
My classes have prepared me to work in the backside of companies and nonprofits, and I've learned about all the work that goes into making a successful company run.
What advice would you give other students who are looking for hands-on experiences in their major while they finish college?
Find a position that interests you the most and you are excited to go to every day. Being somewhere that doesn’t feel like work is a great opportunity.
About Wichita State University
Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and WSU Tech, including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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