Student work- Tess at the front desk

By Hannah Lujano

Alone at the front desk, the young woman of medium height uses a paper cutter to shred plain white card stock. The scarf on her head reaches the small of her back, pulling her blond hair away from her face to expose the four piercings she has in her left ear.

“Tess,” her nametag reads.

The last name is more of a challenge.

“Ha ha ha, let me spell it for you: B-A-U-M-F-A-L-K,” said the Holiday Inn desk attendee during a slow time for the hotel.

Flint Hills Publication Workshop students are either in class or occupied with another activity not taking place at the hotel. The only people roaming the hallways are hotel employees.

It’s just another day in the job of a hotel clerk. Tess has been employed in four hotels for nearly five years and enjoys her work thus far.

“I get to meet new people. They are interesting. I also get to create friendships with the regulars. There’s not a whole lot I don’t like about this job,” Tess explains as she moves to answer the ringing phone on the opposite end of the desk.

“Good afternoon, thank you for calling Holiday Inn with the campus,” cooed Tess. “Thank you, mhm. You’re welcome.”

She hung up and returned to her paper shredding.

Tess is supporting herself through school, though not Kansas State University. She is enrolled in online courses at Colby Community College. She has already earned her bachelor’s degree and hopes to major in either biology or music.

“Well, I did music in high school, but I’d like to become a surgeon,” she said. “I just can’t decide what I want to do after I graduate.”

Tess contemplates her statement and glances up to see Jose, a deliveryman passing by.

“Hola, amigo,” Tess said.

They recalled funny moments from their collective past hotel experience. There are too many to count. From young basket ballers jumping through windows into the pool in January to hotel owners getting stuck in the elevator, there is never a dull moment.

Hannah Lujano is a senior at McPherson High School and a student in the advanced writers class at the Flint Hills Publication Workshop.