Dorrill Dining Hall may not be the most luxurious place to work, but it is the mandatory first stop for a student employee. If accepted for work-study, every freshman must work in the dining hall. Sometimes for these first year students, it can be a reality check.
“A lot of them have never had work experience before,” says Constance Garner, one of the head student supervisors of the dining hall. “They don’t know what it’s like to have to come in and not be able to call out whenever you want, and actually have to do work and be on a team and work with other people.”
First year students are tasked with various jobs throughout the dining hall. These jobs can range anywhere from prep work, making sandwiches for students or cleaning tables at various times of the day, including breakfast at 7AM. “Basically, I got paid minimum wage to cut onions and peppers and put bacon on sheets for up to four and a half hours at like seven in the morning,” says Justin Chamberlain, a sophomore who worked in the dining hall as a freshman, and now has a job elsewhere on campus.
While the dining hall may not be the most glorious job, many students need the income while at college. “I needed the money,” Chamberlain says. “That was basically the only driving factor that made me stay there because I absolutely dreaded going to work at DHall.”
Some workers don’t feel as if managers and supervisors relate to them and ease them into work. Dante Bowles, a freshman dining hall employ says, “Some [supervisors] can be really bossy, and then others you have are really cool and really lenient…you have to learn how to not let [them get to you].” . “My least favorite part [of working at the dining hall] are the rules we have,” says Bowles.
Some of these rules include a sick policy that requires sick students to come into work fully dressed in uniform and leave it up to the discretion of their supervisor to decided whether or not they are fit to work.
While students may feel frustrated and annoyed at some of the rules, the dining hall also teaches you great skills, especially if it’s a student’s first job.
“I think the ones who stick with it and make it, they’re so much better for it,” says Garner. “When I started [as] a freshmen student, I hated the job…I didn’t let my self like it.” After being offered a supervisor position, Garner says her entire outlook on the job changed. “If you let yourself have a good experience with it, it can take you a lot of places.”
To be considered for other employment on campus, your experience and commitment at the dining hall are closely looked at.
“It definitely helped me through the application and interview process,” Chamberlain explains. “Since I stayed the entire year, it showed commitment…I do think it helped me get [my new] job compared to other applicants.”
Besides basic prep and cleaning skills, working in the dining hall also prepares you for the realities of work, building communication and team building skills. As a dining hall employee, you meet a variety of people while on the job, and being able to adapt and learn how to work with them is a very important life skill.
“It was a character builder,” says Chamberlain. “[You learn] patience and how to deal with supervisors.”
The dining hall can be a lot to take on as a freshman, at times you’ll want to give up and quit, but positivity is the way to keep your spirits up and build a good work ethic that future employers will appreciate later. “Stick it through. It seems bad, but it’s an experience. You definitely learn to appreciate your future job that you get a lot more because of it.”
It’s all about attitude and growing as a person. Garner explains, “If you come in with an attitude and say ‘this is gonna suck’ then yes its gonna suck…if you come in and say ‘you know what, I can do this, this is gonna be fun, let me think of way to make it fun,’ that creativity shows off and that’s how you build off yourself and become a leader.”
