Even if you don’t know her name she probably knows yours. As a Culinart employee here at Carnegie Mellon University, Taneya Morris is an incredibly sweet and friendly person who always greets her customers by first name. I interviewed Taneya to ask her about her personality, her incredible talent for remembering names, and her interests outside of work.
Taneya has worked here with Culinart for the past eight years. When asked if she enjoyed her job she replied, “I love it here because of the students.” She went on to explain how much she likes interacting with hundreds of students everyday. Taneya can most often be found behind the register of the UC food court during the busy lunch hours. Despite the rush, Taneya is constantly smiling and greeting customers with a friendly greeting. “I’ve always been like this,” she elaborated. “I’m definitely a people person.”
The most remarkable thing about Taneya is her memory for students’ names. She greets every customer with a variation of “Hi, [insert a name here], How are you doing today, sweetheart?” Students take notice, and when it’s been a rough morning this friendly greeting can brighten anyone’s day. I asked Taneya how she is able to know everyone’s name without even looking at his or her id card. “I don’t know, I guess I’m just good with names the way my mom was good with numbers,” she replied. Taneya then gave me an example of her extraordinary skill: “Four years ago during the precollege program here I knew all 800 students’ names in one week.” This fact is extremely impressive, especially for people who can’t even remember the names of every person in their class.
In Taneya’s spare time she loves dancing and acting. She went to Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh and has continued to pursue her passions to this day. Taneya also aspires to continue her performance education here at Carnegie Mellon’s drama department.
Taneya is well known on the Carnegie Mellon campus as the sweetest and most genuine Culinart employee. The next time you are getting lunch and want to be cheered up, go by Taneya’s register and be greeted by name and a friendly smile.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at CMU chapter.