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No classroom prepares you for hairnets. College is supposed to be a place brimming with new experiences. It's all about higher learning, forming friendships, gaining independence, creating a future, and busting your butt for some extra Cash. What?  

Work

 ?! Why on earth would anyone willingly give up precious naptime to work? And where could a college student find a place of reasonable employment anyway?

The campus Cafeteria, that's where. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm going to be a lunch lady? That's not quite the experience I was looking forward to!" Don't get me wrong, I've held the usual summer jobs before - mindlessly handing out tickets from a tiny booth at the local amusement park, and babysitting neighborhood tykes whose attention spans max out at Pokemon and fudgesicles. But when I showed up for my first day of duty at the Elizabethtown College Dining Hall, Elizabethtown, PA, my instinct was to curl up into the fetal position and call out for my mother.

I was behind the trenches with the actual lunch ladies - hairnets and all. And that wasn't even the worst part. First of all, there is actual work to be done, and not easy work at that (gasp!). Filling the milk machines, wiping tables, replacing ghastly-looking entrees, checking napkin holders, and taking orders from nearly the entire student body at once is a challenge (except for the likes of Superman, anyway).

And of course, there's a stigma that goes with working in the cafeteria. Everyday, all your peers, friends, enemies, crushes, and cliques march through the serving line waiting for you to slap some "cha-cha-chicken" on their platters. They tend to look at you as a lower life form, but then again, they're the suckers devouring that unidentified chicken mess. Respect for your efforts is hardly ever granted. But despite the embarrassment and tedious labor, cafeteria life does have its advantages.

The people you work with usually make the shifts more bearable. There is always a group of students stuck in the same nightmare as you, and it helps to share the pain with coworkers. Who else could possibly understand the trauma of peeling eggs for two straight hours or scrubbing crusty pots and pans 'til your fingers lose all feeling? And at times, the full-time staff can even be enjoyable.

After the first month, during which they simply refer to you as "Hey There" and force the most undesirable tasks upon you, they begin to lighten up. Before you realize it, they're waving at you during your off-duty dining and sending you Christmas cards. Another plus that most employment offers is the chance for promotion. After a year of life as a lowly student worker, you can advance to student manager. Just knowing you'll then get to boss around all those other lowly student workers is worth the title boost alone!

But the biggest and best reward slaving in the cafeteria brings is, yes, the paycheck. Movie on Friday night, party on Saturday, dinner out on Sunday - all covered. The joy of a healthy wallet is fully appreciated in college when you get to watch your roommate crawl on the floor in search of laundry Money. (And she thought she was too good to work alongside you?!)

Work for dining services usually offers flexible hours, with plenty of shifts to choose from. Most shifts, although seemingly never-ending, last only three to four hours. So even while serving the sloppiest sloppy joes and the creepiest-looking macaroni and cheese, I still enjoy my job. Besides, where else would I gain such great experience? The classroom? No classroom prepares you for hairnets!

Working while balancing academic responsibilities and a social life is a feat in and of itself. Surviving in the "Land of the Lunch Lady" is a whole other type of accomplishment and experience to boot.

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