Job Well Done for Student Employee of the Year

05/08/2025
By Ed Brennen

As senior public health major Fajr Zahid graduates and begins her career, she’s adding an impressive accolade to her résumé: UMass Lowell’s Student Employee of the Year.

Zahid learned about the honor when she showed up for one of her final shifts at the Office of Student Life & Well-being, where she manages a team of eight student well-being leaders.

“I was completely shocked,” the Acton, Massachusetts, native says. “A lot of the work I do is behind the scenes in the office, so it feels good to be recognized.”

Each year, as part of National Student Employment Week, the offices of Student Employment and Financial Aid recognize UMass Lowell students who work while in school, either through the Federal Work-Study Program or in departmental and off-campus positions.

This year, there were 1,260 student employees at UML. Of those, 35 were nominated by their supervisors for the Student Employee of the Year award.

Zahid was nominated by Hannah Monbleau, associate director of Student Life & Well-being, who praised her as a standout leader with a deep commitment to student health.

“Fajr brings integrity, energy and compassion to every task and interaction, embodying the very best of what it means to be a student employee at UMass Lowell,” Monbleau wrote in her nomination. “Her organization skills and attention to detail have greatly improved our operations.” 

Started in 2022, the well-being leaders initiative offers two students from each college the paid opportunity to promote a healthy campus by supporting the well-being of their peers.

Zahid works 10 hours a week as lead well-being leader, serving as the liaison between Monbleau and the student team. She keeps projects on track with the Trello workforce management tool, she edits and publishes team blog posts, and she mentors the well-being leaders as they develop projects on campus.

Zahid joined the office as a well-being leader during her sophomore year after spotting the position on JobHawk, the university’s student job board.

“I was looking for a campus job that aligned with my passion for helping others,” she says. “I wanted to create a positive impact, and this position let me do that.”

She was promoted to lead the entire team in the summer before her senior year.

“It was a different kind of challenge,” she says. “It’s making sure that everyone on the team is staying on top of their tasks while I’m staying on top of my own. It was definitely a good leadership experience.”

Originally a psychology major, Zahid realized she wanted to move beyond one-on-one care and explore areas that help the broader community, such as health education, prevention and outreach.

This spring, she completed her public health capstone with the town of Randolph, Massachusetts, working remotely on food safety and health education materials. She also joined the town’s public health commissioner for several food inspections.

Now, as she prepares to graduate, Zahid is looking ahead to a future in community health — and is taking the lessons from her student employment experience with her.

“My college experience would have been much different if I hadn’t been working on campus these past few years,” she says. “It helped me out financially, but I also gained experience that I wouldn’t get from just going to class.”