Cecelia FranciscoIt is difficult for a Cabrini student to stumble into the cafeteria without hearing or seeing the lively presence of Michelle Waters. Waters has been a consistent worker of the cafeteria for two years now. Popular among students, faculty and co-workers, it is tough for anyone to conduct a conversation without fellow co-workers making playful comments.
“Nothing she says is true,” yelled one of the workers jokingly from across the cafeteria. However, a more quiet and reserved side of Waters was witnessed on this day. It was very different from what Cabrini students usually see as a flamboyant personality.
Working 40-hours each week and sometimes more, Waters has grown accustomed to the cafeteria system. Before Cabrini, she worked at Pizza Hut for five years.
“I love the students here,” Waters said. Waters has dreams of one day becoming a cook for a hotel. Figuring that she would have a better chance of achieving her dream at a job other than Pizza Hut, Waters saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a cafeteria position and applied.
Waters started out in the Cabrini food service system as an employee of what used to be the Wig Wam. The Wig Wam was then reconstructed and is now known as the Jazzman’s Cafe. She worked at the Wig Wam until management saw her experience and decided to transfer her to cafeteria services.
Waters is the mother of six children: Damire, Damira, Destiny, Darius, Armon, and Rashon. This is the motivation that keeps Michelle coming to work each day.
“Sometimes it is hard,” Waters said when asked about the struggles of supporting such a large family. “But I get a lot of help from my husband and my mother.”
Waters feels that the best part of working at Cabrini is the experience with the students. She loves talking and associating with them.
“They treat me nice because I treat them nice,” Waters said. Charles Jaxel is a sophomore history major at Cabrini and has been eating in the cafeteria for two years.
“Michelle is always the shining star of the cafeteria,” Jaxel said. Another Cabrini student commented on Waters’ job performance at the cafeteria:
“She’s crazy,” Nicole Niedermeier, a junior educational studies major, said.
Although it isn’t her dream job, Michelle Waters loves the day to day interaction with the students. Her daily conversations with the various amounts of students on campus is a definite perk of the job.
