After 33 years of working at American River College, Doris Rodriguez will be retiring from working in food services.
Rodriguez has seen many changes throughout the years, “When I first came in 1978 American River College was rated number one in the United States because they were one of the first to introduce computer courses and programs. There were many different transitions, but it’s still a very excellent school,” Rodriguez said.
“The cafeteria has gone through many changes and Aramark (ARC’s food service company) had all the finances to bring us into the right perspective to service all the students and faculty. We’ve done the best to our ability (when moving to the Portable Village), but it’s been a sacrifice for the whole college,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez has many fond memories of working here at ARC and says that it’s always nice when an alumni stops by the cafeteria to give her a hug after they have their career started.
Rodriguez will be dearly missed by her coworkers. “I’ve been with Doris since I started working here two years ago, she’s always been good to me. She’s a really good person and she likes people,” said Ester Garcia.
When asked about a crazy customer service story, Rodriguez said, “It’s been a couple of years ago, but when we were in the cafeteria there was a group that used to play (Dungeons and Dragons) and there were suicides coming on the news that were affiliated with this game, and I don’t know if the students were aware of that or not. So I called the campus police and they talked to the students and they removed them from playing that game. It left a mark on me to have to do that, but I had to do it.”
Rodriguez says she plans to travel with her husband after she retires. The first stop on their list is Washington State to visit their grandchildren and great grandchildren.
