This week’s campus celebrity definitely makes a positive difference at UMaine and is an essential part of our culture. Her name is Debbie Harris and you can find her smiling face every day in the Union.
The Old Town resident will be going on her tenth year as an employee for UMaine Food Services on October 28th. With two kids of her own, Debbie knows how to keep up with the UMaine Black Bears. When talking with Debbie she shared some fun stuff about her life and how happy the students make her.
Being a part of the Union facility, Debbie gets to see all the action that takes place during morning coffee runs and lunch rush hour. She says that the main thing that keeps her smiling and working hard all day is the positive energy she receives from all of her campus buddies. When asking Debbie how she can recognize and memorize so many different faces and names on campus she said, “I can put a name to a face right away, don’t ask me how. I would love to know how many kids I know by first name. It would be a lot.” Students go to Debbie when they have good news or bad and always receive a positive response whether it cheers you up or keeps you motivated. She says that it works both ways, maybe sometimes things at home aren’t perfect, and so when she comes to work its great to know that all her friends will be there to keep her smiling. “Ill be working here for life,” Debbie says. Which I’m sure is good news for current students as well as future students
Since Debbie has been here for almost ten years it is expected that she must have some stories. One story Debbie shared was of a “Cute little old man and the pickle”. One afternoon during the inevitable lunch rush, an old man came through her line with a salad and a pickle, Debbie asked the man to move his pickle because it was blocking the bar code she needed to scan, the old man leaned in towards Debbie and said, “Oh jeez hun that’s the first time someone has asked me to move my pickle in a long time.” Debbie burst out laughing. She says she will never forget that one.
If you’ve been a student here for the past three years then you know how fast Debbie can swipe those cards and get the line moving. I asked her how many cards she thinks she can swipe a minute, that’s a pretty tough question, so she replied with a guess of maybe 15-20. That’s some pretty serious business. If you’re a Debbie fan you may also know that she quit smoking just about 3 and a half years ago when her grand daughter was born and is proud of it! Great Job Debbie, that takes ambition.
Debbie’s advice for us UMaine Black Bears is to stay in school! She has seen a lot of success and growth in many students here and she hopes to keep making us smile just like we do for her.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Maine chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.