May 19th
After my dad and I initially got a little lost (a theme of my stay here thus far), we found my dorm, Miller Hall.
It is so nice, with a kitchen area, a TV, and a private bathroom in our room! There was also alot of food and drinks as a welcome treat… how nice!! A really neat thing about PSU is the insane emphasis on recycling (evidenced by the 6 or 7 recycling bins in our dorm, all sorted by type of material!!) and sustainability- I absolutely love it.
I got to meet two of the other interns, Sarah and Marisa. Sarah is from California State University, Chico and Marisa is from Michigan State University- we bonded right away! And of course, what would the NACUFS Internship be without Maria, our coordinator?! She was so full of positive energy and she is a dynamic firecracker!! I couldn’t wait to work more with her.
May 20th
The next day, we went to breakfast together at Pollock Commons, one of the main dining halls on campus.
I love the colourful plates!! So vibrant!
We had some fun exploring the bookstore and Old Main… too bad we couldn’t go up the bell tower, but I heard we were getting a private tour later on as part of our activities!
Maria gave us a quick tour of Redifer Commons, the South food district. There were so many cool stations (currently closed for the summer) such as the Edomae customised sushi station. I was surprised to learn that the beef patties for burgers aren’t frozen, but rather shaped fresh every day!! Amazing. We also met some of the other assistant managers.
In the evening, we had a group dinner at Happy Valley Brewery. This was the delicious beet salad I had with grilled salmon!
May 21st
Today was orientation day, which meant a tour of Findlay and meeting the assistant managers, as well as Mr. Hopey, the associate director.
May 22nd
On our day off, we enjoyed an exciting morning of board games… Oh you bet it got competitive!
Next, we tackled our #selfie scavenger hunt around campus and took Rainbow Puff the alpaca (our unofficial mascot) with us for our crazy adventures. Yes, I got a few strange looks and giggles, if you are wondering, but who wouldn’t fall in love with such a cutie pie? ;)
The dreaded 5am early morning shift for the Memorial Day weekend Happy Volley event… let’s say it wasn’t easy waking up, even for a morning person like me. The alarm clock rang way too early when 4am rolled around. But the walk over to Findlay with all four of us shivering in the cold and getting lost in the dark was memorable to say the least. We were all ready to see what the day had in store for us!
Leah and I were cooks today, so we made literally thousands of pancakes! Things moved at a quick pace and although it was busy, time passed by pretty quickly and we both became very efficient at pouring the batter and flipping.
Then things slowed down a bit and I was in charge of a few things, such as sprinkling a bell pepper/onion blend on top of diced potatoes and transferring baked potatoes from sheet pans to the serving trays. After lunch I was out in the front, serving. I loved it and it was crazy to see sooo many people out there, hungry for food! At first there was a lull in the pace, but once the peak time hit (around noon), it was go go go time and I felt like I was endlessly serving garden tortellini and chicken breasts. It was strangely satisfying to know that I was giving the customers the food they would enjoy and fulfilling their hunger, in a sense.
May 24th
Another dark morning as we left our dorms by 4:30am… unfortunately, we took a different route and got a bit lost… but it’s alright, we made it on time! Surprising how buildings usually so easily located in daylight seem obscure and mysterious in pitch darkness at 4 in the morning.
Leah and I switched with Sarah and Marisa today, so we were in the Grade 10 prep area. It was a slower day and we did everything from stock ice cream cones to refilling dressings for the salad bar. We also cut aloooot of cantaloupe and grape clusters. Other tasks included putting out trays of assorted muffins and handpainting the frosting onto donuts (because all the frosting got stuck to the plastic wrap! mini disaster!). After lunch, we served again and oddly, it seemed even busier than the first day even though there were less people. I was in charge of serving pasta with either a marina sauce or with meatballs and boy, did everyone LOVE the meatballs!! Definitely a crowd pleaser!
Happy Memorial Day!
The final 5am day, we were on our A-game and got to Findlay not only early, but we managed to not get lost at all :) Hooray! Third time’s the charm.
Today was a less hectic day and we all took over the student positions. We were in the dishroom, with Leah and I on silverware, Sarah and Marisa doing the unloading. First, we got a brief tour of the dishroom and the way it operated. There wasn’t alot of silverware initally, but once the breakfast rush began, it gradually got busier. I actually loved the organisational aspect of sorting the silverware into knives, forks, and spoons. We got the plastic bins filled with clean silverware from the dishwash line after they were run through twice. We sorted each utensil by type into these green bins and soaked them in 150-180 degree F water for a few minutes before taking them out and sorting into metal bins. Strangely therapeutic and systematic. Leah and I became the silverware pros ;)
Special treat for us, we got off 3 hours early and we all spent some time relaxing and napping under the lovely sunshine :) Oh sleep… what a precious thing!
May 26th
Today we got to recuperate from the busy weekend and toured Pollock. A meeting with Mr. Hopey and Mr. Pearce (the deputy associate VP of auxiliary and business services) rounded out the day!
It has been a whirlwind these few days, but it's already turning out to be an incredible experience that I've been blessed with. Can't wait to see what's ahead and for more surprises and learning moments!
Wow, you've been busy your first week! It's cool that they had you jump into the kitchen and onto the line right away. That will be nice; you'll have an easier time planning your event now that you've seen what the kitchen and lines can do. Have you worked in foodservice before? I always hated doing silverware; I would much rather serve, prep, or wash the big stuff. :)
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