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Jonathan Williams | The Appalachian Christine Zoda works for Turning Point Services, where she helps clients live a more normal everyday life.

Job provides emotional fulfillment for ASU student

by Alison Fosbenner
Staff Writer

Valuable jobs are few and far between for college students.

Christie Zodda, a sophomore psychology major, coincidentally found a job that not only fits her interests and major, but also is quite emotionally rewarding.

Last fall, during the beginning of her freshman year, Zodda came across a job with Turning Point Services while job searching online.

Soon after, she sent in her resume and began work in January of this year.

“It was kind of by luck,” Zodda said. “But [it] fit me perfectly.”

Turning Point Services, Inc. is a company based throughout North Carolina and was established in 1995. There are 23 offices within the state.

The agency is private and provides services for individuals with developmental and mental handicaps.

Some specialized services that they provide include family training, community based services (CBS), supported living, family training, therapeutic case consultation and alternative family living.

The Boone office has about eight Appalachian State University student employees.

With the position that Zodda holds, there are three levels of care that a particular client might need. The first, personal care assistance that mostly involves the physical aspects such as feeding and bathing. CBS is when an individual helps the client to become more involved in the community and be more independent.

“That is probably the most challenging,” Zodda said.

A habilitation technician comprises a little bit of both jobs into one. Zodda has done all three and is currently a habilitation technician. She works with two clients.

Zodda said she enjoys feeling needed and is there to help.

The clients are all different cases and ages. Zodda said that she works with individuals who have both mental and physical disabilities.

“Honestly I think that I would do this even if I wasn’t getting paid, just because I enjoy it so much,” Zodda said. “I have become very attached.”

She works with one client about five hours a week and the other roughly 20 hours per week.

“I can’t do much more than that with school work,” Zodda said.

With class, homework and exams, having a job through college can be tough.

“It takes up a lot of my time so I really have to organize,” Zodda said.
Social life is kept to a minimum.

Zodda said that she has very little free time.

A typical week for her involves assistance at meal times, trips to the Humane Society to walk dogs, to the mall, to the library and going on walks on the Greenway.

“I actually love doing it,” Zodda said.

As a care taker of another human being, responsibility and maturity are necessary.

“It’s definitely helped me grow up,” Zodda said, who also hopes to go to graduate school for psychology and somehow tie that into special education, her minor.

Compared to a standard job in retail or food service, rehabilitation has many more benefits.

“Seeing how happy you can make someone,” Zodda said. “That just means a lot to me.”

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