Nathan Staskiel is certain of one thing: he’s determined to build a career in senior living. This isn’t a typical career path for young adults. Nathan knows, firsthand the meaningful work that senior living offers from his mother Andrea, who serves as Executive Director at WindsorMeade, a Life Plan Community in Williamsburg, Virginia. Nathan has fond memories of attending work with his mother every opportunity he could from the time he was quite young, even participating in a “Color me Rad” event with Life Plan community residents back in 2014.
Nathan currently attends Christopher Newport University and is double majoring in communications and philosophy with a concentration in ethics. This summer he gained 10 weeks of hands-on experience at Cedarfield, a sister site to WindsorMeade.
Learning Administrative and Interpersonal Skills
Nathan’s role focused on administrative duties.
“I learned how to use different websites which are industry standard for their respective roles within departments. I also learned how different departments within a senior living community interact with each other,” he shared.
Like many people, Nathan’s work experience was amplified by his engagement with the residents and working alongside them.
“The residents are absolutely fantastic,” Nathan shared. “They are welcoming and offer tidbits of advice for me to be successful. They also love pulling me aside and picking my brain on my goals for the future and sharing their insights and lessons learned along the way. I learn something new from every conversation.”
A Step Towards a Lifelong Career
For Nathan, there was no question where he wanted to spend his internship between his junior and senior years. His experience in senior living was guided by his desire for a long and lasting career in the field, and this experience only solidified his path forward.
As he ended his internship Nathan shared his advice for senior living communities who want to recruit more young adults to the field.
“Senior Living organizations should attend more job fairs that colleges, trade schools, and high schools host. There are so many career opportunities in senior living. I was lucky to find out about this career path from my mom.”
