Elena, a hospitality management major, with a concentration in conference services and a minor in French, is the Beans manager for the 2017-2018 year. Beans is an on-campus, student-run coffee shop here at DU. Elena is from Denver, Colorado, but has not been at the University of Denver for her entire college career. She originally started off at the University of Puget Sound in Washington State, but after a year, it wasn’t a good fit for her. It was too late to apply to other schools, so she decided to take a year off, and apply elsewhere. During her year off, she worked at her mom’s office, and it ended up being an amazing experience. She met many different people from many backgrounds, and it ended up being a great way for her to spend her year off.
After her year off, she decided to go to the University of Denver for its smaller, more intimate campus, and it ended up being a better fit for her. She worked at Knoebel Events for about a year and a half, until she received an offer to apply for Beans. She liked the people she worked with at Beans, and received an opportunity to be a manager. If that meant she got to spend more time at Beans, then she wanted it!
A funny Beans story that Elena shared was while working at Korbel (Beans’ new location in the International Studies Building), Elena decided to crawl under the bulky, incredibly heavy marble counter instead of lifting it up. She thought she was all the way through, but when she started to stand up, her head smacked up on the marble. She fell back down, seeing stars in the corners of her vision. She layed on the floor for a second, breathing heavily, but immediately noticed the customer standing in shock. “Are you okay?” the witness asked Elena.
When she’s not helping to run Beans, or busy with class work, Elena loves to spend time with her friends and family. She also loves anything active: running, baseball, exercising, she loves it all!
When Elena graduates from college she wants to work in sporting events, whether it’s with charity foundations, or planning events. Elena enjoys the vibe of sporting events, and loves to be around live sports. She also has an internship this summer at the Westin Hotel at DIA, which she is super excited for.