A part of many students’ daily routine is saying hello to the staff working at the front desk in the residence halls as they are checking in. This “Hello” will usually include a nice wave or smile, but beyond that greeting, you can learn a lot from actually taking the time to sit down and talk with the staff. They are always ready to tell a funny story, and they can easily share their opinions on the best parts of their job, as well as some of the struggles. Barbara, who works in Sourin, shared one of her strangest experiences while working the front desk. “I once caught a girl with a bag of wine taped to her stomach”. She also shared some of her opinions on working at the various buildings around campus. “I always liked Rashford because it was near the bus stop, and I always liked that building. It was one of the first dorms I worked in Pennbrook was my least favorite because there was too much partying and disrespect. They partied too much”.
Aisha, however, is currently working in her favorite building – Villiger. “It’s definitely the cleanest”, she said. In contrast, her least favorite was Mcshain, “There are too many ways for people to sneak in”. Additionally, her least favorite part of the job is when people try to snatch passes, so working in Mcshain was definitely hectic.
Steven, who works the night shift at Lafarge, shared one of his late night tales from the front desk. Being a late night attended he has experienced many interesting stories and encounters. “One of the suitemates had over a guy doing strange things and then later found that he was seeing two girls at the same time.” Besides Lafarge, Steven has worked all over campus. “I worked in mostly all of the buildings. My least favorite building was Hagan Arena, it was too quiet. I like all freshman dorms because freshman are the only people who actually talk to me.” Rodney, who works in McShain, has also worked in all the buildings around campus, with Ashwood being his favorite and Sourin being his least favorite. “I worked in them all. Ashwood was my favorite because it was the first one I worked in, also it was quieter. Sourin was my least favorite because of the positioning of the desk, you were always looking in the direction of the RAM’s office.”
He had quite an interesting story to tell about one night when some students had some trouble getting into the building. “In one night, there were three lockouts, with two of them being naked. The two stayed in the shower, and one came to tell me so they could get back in.”
Next time you are checking in to your hall, try to take the time to chat with whoever is working at the front desk. You’ll be able to get to know them more and you’ll walk away with a few new stories to tell your friends.
