Chances are good that someone you know has worked at a campus dining facility at some point in hir Wesleyan career. Perhaps you occasionally glimpse a classmate assembling sandwiches or wiping off sullied cookware behind a counter at Usdan. Maybe you’re vaguely aware that your roommate works an evening shift at Summerfields. Even then, it’s probably not a frequent topic of conversation between the two of you. After all, it’s just a job.

Still, the amount of time student workers spend at campus dining jobs leads to the development of strong opinions about the experience of food service.

With only minor prodding, most everyone with whom I talked cheerfully expounded on the many facets of hir work experience with an enthusiastic intensity that surprised even me (who had, after all, deemed the topic of student food service jobs adequate for a thousand-word Argus article).

Many people with whom I talked acquired their jobs through some seemingly arbitrary sequence of events.

“[Summerfields] got me the way they get all the freshmen…I lived upstairs in the Butts,” said Laura Munsil ’14, a Summerfields employee since 2010.

Some workers were offered positions a few weeks into the semester after previously hired workers dropped their shifts. For many employees, this was their first semester working at a dining facility. Others, like Munsil, are old-timers.

“I’m working on coming up with a tally of how many [cups of sour cream, guacamole, and salsa] I’ve made in my life,” she said. “I’m estimating somewhere around 50 thousand-ish.”

Despite the apparent joy that comes from compiling condiments, there are times when the day-to-day work in a campus dining facility is not the easiest.

“Sometimes it gets really hectic…I’ve spilled [drinks] many, many times,” said Maddie McEntire ’13 said, who works at Pi Café.

Although there is usually some activity at each of these locations, students spoke of the periodic rushes that occur at different times of the day, usually when classes get out or around the lunch hour. Most of the time, however, business isn’t overly busy. At calmer times of the day, students said that the work can get fairly monotonous: refilling cups, wiping tables, or prepping food. Indeed, for some, this rhythm of repetitive work is the most calming part of the job.

“My favorite aspect of the job is probably making portion cups and wrapping desserts,” said Summerfields employee Danilo Perez-Vides ’15. “It keeps you occupied, which I feel is the trick to making a shift go by quickly.”

Munsil concurred with Perez-Vides, and said that he also enjoys the seemingly monotonous activities.

“Scooping guacamole cups is weirdly therapeutic,” she said.

Besides the manual labor itself, which distinguishes these students’ jobs from other employment on campus, a unique aspect of being a Bon Appétit student employee is working alongside full-time Bon Appétit staffers. This is a perk that most everyone seemed to enjoy.

“I have a great time working with the permanent Bon Appétit staff,” Perez-Vides said. “They’re all great people and hard workers, and a lot of them are pretty funny.”

Many students see their work not just as a pleasant experience, but as an irreplaceable opportunity. The interaction between the students and full-time employees is something that is hard to replicate elsewhere on campus.

“One of the most valuable things about any workplace is the opportunity to meet people that you probably would never have met without this common tie,” Munsil explained. “I’m lucky that the Bon Appétit staff happens to be really great. I definitely feel closer to some of them than I do to some of the Wes student workers, but that depends.”

“We’re all just people trying to make some money,” she added.

When asked what other students could do to make the workers’ jobs easier, everyone had strong opinions. Specific suggestions varied from eatery to eatery, but the takeaway message was always the same.

“I could write a long list of picky little things, but essentially, just be considerate,” Munsil said. “And anyone that’s worked in food service knows that a pleasant demeanor goes a really long way. I’ll always bend over backward to help someone that does something as simple as telling me to have a nice day.”

Perez-Vides offered more specific suggestions.

“Don’t make the worker calling numbers make his or her voice hoarse just calling your number,” Perez-Vides said. “And don’t leave all your trash around for a student worker to clean up when it takes two seconds to throw things out.”

The latter suggestion was by far the most common one, echoed repeatedly by numerous students.

“When you have a test tomorrow or a paper to write, the last thing you want to do is scrub the floor,” McEntire said. “Pick up your newspapers after you leave.”

Many students also appreciated the essential life lessons they learned in the nonacademic setting of a cafeteria or restaurant.

“Customer service and working with food are really valuable experiences,  definitely something I’ll want to take forward with me as I look for other jobs,” Hellman said. “We can’t all work on Wall Street or do hotshot internships over the summer.”

Munsil explained the particular way her position has influenced her life.

“The ability to get along with people I could have nothing in common with, to stay cheerful, to stay sane, to be hardworking and do my job, and even take pride in it, in a workplace that isn’t going to be my eventual career is something that will benefit me hugely in the future,” she said. “I also feel like spending time in food service is pretty conducive to being a good person, just because you know what it’s like to clean up other people’s trash.”

Student workers arealso proud of some of the unique skills they picked up while working.

“In a classroom you can’t learn how to make a [Nutella drink],” McEntire said with a smile.

Making a Wesleyan-specific caffeinated drink might not be the most real-world applicable ability, but  it comes with a host of other great side effects.Working in food service provides valuable perspective that many students ensconced in the Wesleyan bubble may miss, which may be the greatest job benefit of all.

“People ask me all the time why I still work at Summerfields after three years,” said Munsil. “I’ve got three other jobs and enough experience to get another one somewhere else, probably a cushy library job where I could do my homework, and yet I don’t leave. I didn’t know why for a while, but I do now. I value the way that Summerfields keeps me humble, grounded, and reminds me how blessed I am to be where I am much more than I would value an extra couple of hours to do homework at night… Everything I get to do and think about here I need to treasure, because I’m getting an opportunity to learn beautiful things every single day, and that’s so rare.”