Meet Jenna Galuska, my very own roommate and a valued worker at one of the hottest spots on campus: Starbucks!
The other day I got the pleasure of interviewing her about it, to understand a little bit more about the job she dashes off to in her all-black-everything uniform. Below are her responses:
Why did you decide to become a barista?
My first inspiration to work at Starbucks came from when my friend back home worked there, and I helped her learn the drink codes. After learning this new jargon, I thought to myself, “It would be nice to actually use this knowledge I have amassed.” So basically I applied for the job and went in with a head start in that respect.
The other reason I decided I wanted to work at Starbucks was that I like interacting with people. And that’s essentially what the whole job is: it’s a lot more people than coffee!
What’s your favorite shift to work?
The 1st one early in the morning. First of all, sometimes you get to make the mocha, which is v. exciting.
Also, I’m a morning person, so I like to be awake when most of campus is waking up.
And that shift is also when the most people come in, and you get to talk to them. Some people are rushing to get to work, but a lot of them are just easing into their day, so you get to talk to them. It’s also cool because some of the same people come in each morning, and you get to learn their order and have their name written on the cup before they come in.
Biggest challenge of the job:
Honestly my biggest challenge is remembering to hit the cup discount button when people bring in a reusable cup. It’s like, why do you know more about my job than me?
Most interesting drink you’ve ever tried:
One time we tried three espresso shots pulled three different ways and it was interesting to see how they kind of tasted different!
Drink you don’t understand how it is popular:
We were kind of bored, so we made little sample cups of salted caramel mocha, and that was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tried.
Best advice for someone trying to save money at Starbucks:
If you can deal with a lot more coffee flavor, and you want, say, a pumpkin spice latte, you can ask for just coffee with pumps of pumpkin spice in it. It’s not as milky, but I thought that was really smart!
If you could make up a drink, what would it be?
A fruit frappuccino without strawberries in it. Because I’m allergic to strawberries, and sometimes you just want a milkshake.
Person that, if you served at Starbucks, you would go ecstatic:
Ruth Bader Ginsberg. I would love to meet Ruth Bader Ginsberg in any context, but if it was from behind the counter, I’d be totally fine with it. If she just showed up and asked me to hit her up with a drink, that would be pretty amazing #RBG