High school students assist Davenport service
Campus Times
December 11, 1998
Charter Oak High School senior Jonathan Kelley has been working for
Davenport Dining Hall for more than a year. He helped fellow schoolmate
Vincent Quiñones, also a high school senior, get a job there in May.
The two general utility workers come directly from school each day to serve
students, wash dishes and clean floors. Kelley hopes to attend Cal Poly
after his graduation and Quiñones would like to work in the field
of medicine.
They clean tables, serve food, and pretend to not be irritated by friendly
food fights that tend to break out during the anxietyfilled finals weeks.
Their presence adds to the refined ambiance of the dining experience
at the University of La Verne's Davenport Dining Hall. But just who are
these people?
Not just faces in green Aramark polo shirts, these workers have lives
outside the decorated La Verne watering hole, and those lives are not within
the confines of ULV.
Outside his duties at La Verne bussing tables and serving fine cuisine
to students, Vince Quiñones, a general utility worker at Davenport,
is also a full-time high school student in his senior year at Charter Oak
High School in Covina.
Jonathan Kelley, also a Charter Oak senior, came to work at the Davenport
a little over a year ago and has been working as a general utility worker
five days a week while completing his last year of high school.
Quiñones, who has been working since May, came to Davenport at
the recommendation of Kelley.
"It isn't a bad job," said Quiñones. "The hours
are good because we get off at 8 p.m. and have time to do homework or go
out on the weekends."
While making extra money and getting work experience, these young men
seem to also be getting a sense of what it is like to be among upstanding
and mature college students.
"I've come across some guys who act like real idiots sometimes,"
said Quiñones, "But they're OK most of the time."
Quiñones plans to stay with his job for a while until baseball
season comes around.
"It is my senior year, so I want to have as much fun as I can."
Kelley also graduates this year and plans to attend college.
"I'm not sure where I want to go yet, or what I want to major in.
I just want to do something that isn't routine or behind a desk," he
said.
When he is not at school or working, Kelley spends time helping a friend
fix up a 1971 Duster that looks like a version of Al Bundy's car.
Next time while enjoying the dining experience of Davenport, take some
time to realize that the people who help make it possible are not the average
young adults, but rather a few energetic young people trying to make the
experience pleasant.
