JuChan Moon// Photo essay

People graduate from high school and  are eager to go into college. They have no idea what is awaiting for them. Some might be excited to be finally free from their parents, or some might be sad because college means more studying. 

March 10, 2018, Andrea Maraat brings food to a table excited because of her hunger.

This is Andrea Maraat, a junior in Calvin college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is from the Philippines that studied in a small Christian school in Thailand. She is a prideful Calvin college student that gets involved with the community every opportunity she gets. 

She wants to become a secondary biology teacher. She enjoys making people happy and teaching them information about science, especially plants. Andrea has a passion for botany, a study of plants. She says that trees are smart because of all of the things they do in order to survive. 

February 28, 2018, Andrea Maraat is memorizing the student's names that she teaches at a high school. 

March 10, 2018, Andrea Maraat is looking at a flower that interests her.

During free time, Andrea likes going on adventures and just enjoys the company of trees and birds around her. She also likes taking photos of things around her or that amuses her. Even though she has many hobbies, watching shows and playing games is her favorite thing to do. She loves having her own time and watching shows. It relieves her of her stress and charges her back up for school 

March 3, 2018, Andrea Maraat looks over the trees, seeing a wonderful view of the sand dunes.

March 3, 2018, Andrea Maraat takes photos of the lake and the wildlife around it.

March 5, 2018, Andrea Maraat watches a show as she rests in the afternoon.

One of the biggest events she got involved in Calvin college was Rangeela. Rangeela is a cultural event that occurs every year. This year, Andrea decided to be a Philippine act leader. She led the group by teaching them the dances and teaching them the culture of her country.  

February 23, 2018, Rangeela is a Hindi word that translates to colorful. Calvin college made a cultural event and gave the name Rangeela.

February 23, 2018,  Andrea Maraat leads her group with a bamboo dance they do in the Philippines.

February 23, 2018, Andrea Maraat and her group finishes the act by raising their hands in the air.

Hannah Taplin /// Photo Essay

As the Slicer Spins

An inside look at the daily life of the Knapp Corner deli.

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The neon Meijer sign illuminates on the wet pavement in the early morning hours.

           The alarm goes off at 4:15 AM. Groggy and wishing for five more minutes of sleep, I fumble around in the dark for my uniform, name badge, and my first cup of coffee. The moon guides my path to the frosty, black Toyota Camry. Another day, another drive down Leffingwell over to Knapp, turning at the back drive of the dimly lit parking lot of Knapp’s Corner Meijer. I slip into the blue collared polo, put my Samsung Level earbuds in, and head inside.

           This morning does not change. It has been my routine for the past year and a half. Now, the store is still quiet, echoing the wheels of carts pushed by eager-to-leave third shifters, and the hum of floor polisher vibrating the soles of my New Balance shoes. 

One of the many wall decals in the Meijer deli; a reminder to both team members and to customers.

 The process is the same day to day, having them all blend together. I asked this question to my deli team members. Martha, a woman who mainly works at the salad bar counter and does the cold side markdowns on subs and Grab-and-Go meats, answered: “Nothing changes. It’s a routine. Nothing happens out of the ordinary here in the morning. Sometimes we have a bat or a weird customer, but most of the time we are typically able to go from one task to another with ease.” 

Martha spends many of her early mornings doing Grab and Go markdowns.

The main opening tasks on the cold side of the deli include:

1. Setting up and plugging in the slicers; if needed, they are sharpened and greased.
2. Restocking and cleaning olive bar, which sits directly across from the deli.
3. Setting up sub shop and refilling the items used before close the night before.
4. Making subs with pre-packaged items in order to put them out before lunchtime; it should be noted that each store has a standard of making at least 85 of these subs per week. 
5. Help the Starbucks next to the department with the tables and cheers if need be. 
6. Cutting Grab-and-Go’s for second shift, if not already done.

Her first day in three weeks, Christine, a longtime team member, is happy to be back to work. She was recently hospitalized with pneumonia and influenza

Christine spends many of her mornings setting up the olive bar, directly across from the deli counter.

Christine takes her time setting up the olive bar, particularly when there are more than a few to do.

Nadine, the deli order writer, does inventory on what she needs to put in for the Wednesday morning order.

The usual cold-side team includes Christine, Jean, and Dorothy, not to mention myself. These three ladies have more than ten years of deli experience between them. This job was always meant to be temporary, but when the economy took a toll on their lives, they were all forced to go back to work. Christine had retired shortly before the recession from more than thirty years in an office cubicle, Jean was a preschool teacher, and Dorothy was a stay-at-home mom who worked part-time at Taco Bell. Despite this, they all take pride in their work and generally enjoy their days spent in the deli.

Jean, who just returned from her paid vacation in Florida, shrugs. “It’s not brain surgery and time goes by faster when you don’t spend time complaining.”

We call our morning crew “Dream Team” since we work so well together and always find things to talk about, like local sports, politics, or music. Everyone coming from different backgrounds, we discuss our childhoods, even dark stuff.

Dorothy and I have even come up with a running joke. Every time someone brings up a childhood trauma, we go: “Beanbag and tea time!”

The other side of the deli – “hot-side” – is a whole other group of people whom we don’t cross paths with. It is a sixty-person department, often too busy to stop and make small talk. However, Adam, the team manager, spends most of his time over therapy helping the mostly understaffed hot-side with frying, pizza, and stocking. With him is his right-hand-man, Eric, who runs the deli when Adam and no other manager is in sight. 

Customers are always our priority and we do our very best to accommodate every request. Most of them are the kindest people, but every occasionally, one of us has to deal with a pain in the neck and entertains the rest of the team when they have left. We carry our stories past the four walls of the store and to our homes, often making it to dinner tables in between clattering plates.

Jean does not particularly care for setting up the sub shop, but she always does it with a smile on her face and roll of the eyes, as if to say: “Great. More veggies to cut!”

Eric and Adam lost in an early morning conversation as they return a cart to the front cart corral.

Dorothy follows safety procedure closely, as she cleans her slicer. The policy is every two hours, if not more when necessary.

Eric, an up and coming deli leader, spends many of his mornings kneading dough for the lunchtime pizzas.

The deli provides the perfect view for sunrises every morning, even though team members complain that it is blinding at times.

Jean returns from break, making sure to wash her hands and taking special precaution for her skin condition.

Maria, one of three cheese stewardesses, informs a customer about dessert cheeses.

Knapp Corner is currently fifth in the company for Grab and Go sales. It is usually first or second; a major drop in the winter months compared to the summer.

On our slower days and little to do, we often look at next week’s ad in preparation.

 

Adam, the head manager of the deli department, takes a smoke break.Many times, Adam does not have a chance to take full breaks due to the busy and demanding role he has. 

Christine informs her customer about options for ham, naming sale items and premium meats, such as True Goodness and Dietz & Watson

Kristin Lenoir // Photo Essay

The Bitter Process

There are many coffee shops that have spread throughout the state of Michigan, but coffee roasters are much less common. Amongst the 50 coffee roasters found in Michigan, many of them are located in the lower West portion of the state, and Magnum Coffee Roastery is one of those special places.



[February 15, 2018] Magnum Coffee Roastery is one of the 50 roasters found in the state of Michigan.



[February 15, 2018] The Roastery offers many flavors and roast variations that they prepare themselves in their facility.



[February 15, 2018] They leave the option of whole bean coffee to allow customers to grind their own beans for a more fresh taste for in-home brewing.


The coffee shop connected to the roastery offers various coffee and tea based beverages for purchase when you just need a quick pick-me-up. The menu does not carry a wide variety of beverages, but the baristas on staff put in the effort to make each of the offered beverages delicious for any customer.



[February 22, 2018] The coffee shop connected to their roastery offers various flavors of their roasts for instant cups of coffee if you are on the go and need a delicious pick-me-up.



[February 22, 2018] The process that goes into each specialty beverage is done with careful finesse.



[February 22, 2018] Two espresso shots are poured into a glass for preparation of one of the specialty beverages from the menu.



[February 22, 2018] Milk is added to the espresso to further the process of the specialty beverage being prepped.


Because the coffee shop portion is so small, there are few baristas on staff. But because of this, the baristas know each drink and the process and measurements to create each drink down to every minor detail. One of these baristas, Stacy Lamb, has only been working at the shop for 11 months but has just as much knowledge of the drink options as the other baristas.



[February 15, 2018] Barista, Stacy Lamb, wipes the counter after preparing beverages for customers.



[February 22, 2018] Barista at Magnum Coffee Roastery, Stacy Lamb, prepares the water to clean various items that need to be ready for the next drink order.



[March 1, 2018] The coffee shop has long periods of quiet down time where the baristas on staff converse and clean.



[March 1, 2018] Once everything is cleaned during the down periods, the shop feels peaceful and quiet.



[February 22, 2018] Barista, Stacy Lamb, answers a phone call with a customer asking about the current winter hours and available roasts.



[March 1, 2018] The shop also offers various bagged coffee for purchase in both whole bean and ground.



[March 1, 2018] The shop also offers some of the highest quality of beans from both Jamaica and Hawaii for a heftier price than their lower priced bagged coffee.



[February 15, 2018] The coffee shop at Magnum offers a different "coffee of the day" each day as well as a new "flavor of the week."



[Febraury 22, 2018] Magnum barista, Stacy Lamb, prepares to make espresso shots for a customer's order.



[February 22, 2018] As the espresso shots are preparing, Stacy converses happily with a customer.



[March 1, 2018] The shop has set out one of their holiday speciality roasts in preparation for St. Patrick's Day.



[March 1, 2018] Besides making delicious drinks for customers, barista, Stacy Lamb, shows off one of her other talents of painting to prepare for the upcoming St. Patrick's Day.



[March 1, 2018] Magnum Coffee Roastery promises quality and delicious roasts and blends of coffee for their customers to enjoy not only in the small Magnum coffee shop, but right in the comfort of their own homes.

Jenny Tran-Photo Essay

March 3, 2018; CenterPoint Mall. Linh Nguyen puts nails polish for a customer.

During history month, we celebrate women who impact those around them by being a warm source of comfort, and a strong pillar of wisdom. Linh Nguyen is a mother of two boys, a business woman, and a wife. By day, she tends to customers as a nail technician and by night, she returns to her small family. Linh paints beautiful designs on manicured finger nails, as pictured above, her attention is focused on the customer; frequenters experience exceptional service at her nail shop.

March 7, 2018; CenterPoint Mall. Linh Nguyen designs some art nails sample. 

 

March 10, 2018; Linh Nguyen hangs around with her husband and her kids. 

 At work, Linh's goal is to provide a warm experience to her customers, she wants them to be happy, confident, and beautiful, but sometimes she has to deal with upset customers. The draining ordeal drives her into an existential crisis. However, when she returns to her family, she hides all of her stresses and being a gentle mother and playing around with her kids. 

March 10, 2018; Linh Nguyen and her husband watches their kids playing. 

Since her husband is unemployed, she has to handle everything by herself like paying bills, going grocery, cooking, taking care of her children, but she still keeps working and never lets herself have a day off. As a young girl, Linh dreamed of being a kindergarten teacher, although life circumstances led her to where she is now, she has not given up her dream. She enrolled in a GED class and prepares to begin taking college classes- the catapult into her destiny. Such is the life of a woman, sacrifice, courage, passion, and love. she embodies, and virtue.