Student Employee of Year award goes to Music Department mainstay

On any given day, Raul Zuniga, a highly motivated student worker in the Amarillo College Music Department, might be found unlocking the practice room doors at dawn and tidying up after a nighttime concert – and plenty more in between.

For the sum of his significant contributions to the department he serves, Zuniga has been chosen as AC’s 2024 Student Employee of the Year.

“Raul’s dedication to the Music Department is unmatched,” Tiffany McDaniel, administrative specialist for the department, said. “He is always responsible, reliable, and positive, and he tends to his work without anyone having to ask.

“He is always conscientiously looking for ways to help faculty and students. When high schoolers come to audition, he makes them feel comfortable and calm. We’ve been so fortunate to have him as our student worker,” she said.”

Nominations for Student Employee of the Year were solicited by AC’s Career and Employment Services and nominees were judged based on criteria of reliability, quality of work, initiative, and overall contributions to the department in which they work.

Zuniga is a music major who received his associate’s degree at AC this May. He has served as the Music Department’s student worker for about a year and a half. Zuniga says he will remain in the roll over the summer in order to help train his replacement. He plans to pursue a degree in music business at West Texas A&M University beginning next fall.

“It feels nice,” Zuniga said of the accolade. “I worked at an off-campus job (fast food) before I got this job, and I always ran into scheduling issues. This job has not only been flexible and allowed me to work around my classes, but I’ve enjoyed getting to know the faculty not just as professors, but as the people and professionals they are – networking and making connections along the way.”

Among his many duties on the job, Zuniga typically helps set up for AC Suzuki classes and special events; welcomes visitors to the Music Department and leads tours; staffs the department’s office on music-audition days; organizes student volunteers for various performances; and more.

As Student Employee of the Year, Zuniga receives an engraved trophy, and his name has been added to the Student Employee of the Year plaque for posterity.