By Obed Lamy October 2, 2020

 

Holly Malone has served as a food service worker at the University of Arkansas for more than three decades. Upon coming back on campus this fall, she discovered a very different working environment.

 

Now the dining halls offer a limited menu selection, exclude self-service, and opt for disposable items. An enormous effort is made in safety precautions like cleaning and temperature checks for employees who are required to work the whole shift with gloves and face masks.

 

Adjusting these new regulations is a source of frustration for students as well as staff.

 

“This [mask] is one more thing to focus on,” Ms. Malone says. “I have to psychologically tell myself that it’s okay, and if anybody else can do it, I can do it too.”

 

And she does so because she feels impelled by a sense of duty, a conviction that her work contributes to the greater good: feeding thousands of college kids every day.

 

“I like to be helpful”, she says. “I want to make the students feel comfortable, like encouraging them to try a new food or inviting them to church or whatever we can talk about.”

 

With the campus completely shut down the last five months, needless to say how much she had missed these social interactions. But most troublesome for her was the financial burden the pandemic has brought.

 

The countless days of quarantine took all her savings. Ms. Malone was among the millions of Americans who ran out of unemployment benefits while U.S. lawmakers still have not voted on a new stimulus package. Ultimately, her daughters stepped in and helped her cover the rent bill for August.

 

“I am glad to have a family that loves me,” Ms. Malone says gratefully.

 

Still, she feels the situation is so disturbing that she delicately changed the topic.

 

At 62 and near retirement, Ms. Malone’s energy and work ethic have seemingly not aged. The reopening of campus rekindles hope for herself and her 19-year-old daughter who, unable to afford college this year, has secured the same job at the dining hall. But how much do they believe in what tomorrow could bring?

 

“I am still uncertain about the future,” Ms. Malone said. “So many things have changed. It’s in God’s hands now. I just live one day at a time.”