For students, it is often easy to get caught up in schoolwork and social events. The simple things are sometimes forgotten, like smiling and saying hello to a passer-by, or picking up after oneself.
Sometimes it is easier to just let someone else do it.
Often overlooked by students, staff in the dorms, the UMC and the classrooms work daily to make the living and learning experience on campus pleasant for students. Many times, their jobs can go unnoticed by students.
Kristara Lee, a freshman mathematics major, said the working staff are “doing great” but that students “kind of ignore them.”
“Kids don’t experience (communication with workers) at home,” Lee said.
Lee said she thinks just being nice on a day-to-day basis helps create a good relationship between students and workers.
“Try to say hi to everybody,” Lee said. “Simple things like thank you or good morning.”
Rachel Hennefeld, a freshman open option major, grew up in a town with many Spanish-speaking workers. She said speaking with custodians whose primary language is something other than English “is not that weird” because of her familiarity with Spanish speakers.
Hennfeld said that oftentimes, students tend to blow workers off because they have a feeling of superiority.
“We have a superior complex,” she said.
Not all students, however, have experienced poor treatment of workers.
Kim Battaile, a freshman pre-journalism major, said that CU workers “are appreciated for what they pick up.”
Battaile said she talks with Gladys, the custodian in her dorm, on a regular basis.
“She’s cool,” Battaile said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Lacy Mosher at Lacy.mosher@colorado.edu.
