Behind the Mailroom Counter: A Graduate Student's Life in UAlbany's Package Hub

By Sia Patel, Class of '26

ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 14, 2026) — On a Tuesday afternoon, Jada Gardener moves through UAlbany’s mailroom like a ninja with a scanner. Package? Scanned. Name? Checked. Locker? Filled.

Total time? Under 30 seconds.  

"See? Not anything crazy," she said, as chaos swirls around her. Bins overflow. Letter mail sits sorted by day. A line forms at the window.

The mailroom isn't just bustling, it is busy on a whole other level. If we look back two years ago, the office had to deal with about 156,000 pieces of mail a year. This year, the number has grown to 178,000!

In Fall 2024, the mailroom processed 26,791 packages. That number grew to 28,567 in Fall 2025 and reached 32,744 in Fall 2026.

Gardener, a graduate student in UAlbany's Mental Health Counseling program, has worked with Mail Services for three years — long enough to remember when students used to snake around the Catskill basement for up to an hour between classes just to grab a package. The installation of lockers in 2024 where campus members could pick up their parcels helped remedy this.

She started as a work-study student assistant. Her work ethic? Chef's kiss.  

"They saw that I was a good student. A good worker, period. So, they rewarded me," she said.  

That reward? Student manager. Now, Gardener sort of runs the show.

She assesses workflow and decides who works where based on package volume. Gardener, a full-time graduate student with a long commute, also puts in hours at a local daycare.  

"I'm just moving everywhere," she said. "I don't like to just sit. I like being on my feet."

But when she’s in the mailroom, it’s a world unto itself. Up to 2,000 packages arrive on busy days. They go into lockers if they fit, onto shelves if they're too big and to the "post con" area for oversized beasts. The parcel lockers have a two-day pickup window. After that? Packages get pulled, courtesy emails go out and items get sent back.  

Anything unidentifiable goes to the “unknown” section, where items are held longer while staff attempt to identify the recipient. If all attempts fail, they are returned to the sender.

"It's so important to look at the name, to make sure they match," Gardener said, holding up a package. "Because there could be a mistake."

Incoming letters, sorted by delivery date, work differently: The mailroom logs each one under the recipient's name, automatically generating a tracking number. If a letter isn't picked up within seven days of arrival, it's returned, Gardener explained.

Her advice? Pick up your packages. Expecting something? Come check. Ordered a lot? Ask for help. "A lot of kids do that. They're like, 'I've been ordering a lot. Can you help me keep track?' And I'm like, 'I got you.'"  

Most importantly? “Make sure whoever sends you something puts the right name, address, and mail reference number."  

After three years, Gardener said she has learned so much about logistics, people and herself, mastering patience, multitasking and efficient communication.  

And at the end of her shift, Gardener’s off to class, to her other job, to the next chapter. The mailroom will be here tomorrow, ready for another day of sorting care packages and letter mail.