Early Workers

Done at Dawn: Community members skip the sleep and make their

living early in the morning.

While some students wake up for 8 a.m. classes and drag

themselves through the cafeteria, Leticia Perez has been up for

almost three hours making sure the most important meal of the day

isn’t forgotten.

“I think (the students) appreciate us,” said Perez, a cook in

Corbett Hall.

Many people work early mornings ensuring smoother rides for the

rest of society.

Perez wakes up at 4:45 a.m. to make it to work by 5:30 a.m. and

has done so for almost six years.

“I am a morning person,” Perez said. “My body is used to

it.”

Perez enjoys the early mornings because it frees up her days and

evenings for other activities.

“I like getting off earlier,” Perez said. “It’s like you are not

being lazy.”

Carrie Hadley also sacrifices her warm bed during early hours to

allow students access to the Campus Recreation center at 6 a.m.

“There are usually 35 to 40 people already waiting outside the

doors before we let people in at 6,” Hadley said.

Hadley, a sophomore health and exercise science major, finds it

hard to be herself so early in the morning.

“Sometimes it’s hard to be nice so early in the morning,” Hadley

said.

Hadley has been working for the recreation center for a year and

a half but would rather work at a job with regular hours.

“It’s hard to get a job here,” Hadley said. “I am a college

student that needs the money and the hours. I’ve got to pay my

bills.”

Other students take on jobs at early hours for reasons other

than money.

“It was a combination of money and brown-nosing,” said Adam

Finney, a coordinator for Intramural Sports. “It started as a

favor.”

Finney lined the intramural fields for three semesters at 7 a.m.

Finney, a junior computer information systems major, started lining

fields when he was a referee and this favor helped him work his way

up the ladder to the coordinator position he holds now.

It might not be his first choice, but Finney said he would do

the job if was he asked again.

“If I had to I’d be here for it,” Finney said.

Some might wake up earlier to work while others stay up during

the late hours of the night.

Joe Feptkether works at Silver Mine Subs, 1240 W. Elizabeth

Ave., making and delivering sandwiches to students who stay up

until the late hours of the night. Feptkether, a student a Front

Range Community College, leaves work around 4 a.m. and doesn’t

think people appreciate his late-night efforts.

“(This job) has its pluses and minuses,” said Feptkether. “It’s

nice to get 30 hours in three nights of work. You can’t really get

that in too many places.”

Feptkether works on nights he doesn’t have class and has done so

for the past two years.

“It’s decent money for part-time,” Feptkether said. “And I do

enjoy working at night because my days are just too busy.”

An hour before employees at Silvermine are done working, Kyle

McDuffie started his newspaper route. McDuffie, a health and

exercise senior, arrived at the Fort Collins Coloradoan at 3 a.m.

to begin his three and a half hour route.

“I could only do it for two months,” McDuffie said. “It was a

last option.”

McDuffie delivered newspapers during the summer and thinks only

half of the customers appreciated his efforts in delivering their

papers.

“The people who were up when I dropped off their paper were

nice,” McDuffie said. “But the others just complained about me

walking on their grass and their paper not being close enough to

their door.”

Snow removal is another early profession that some take for

granted. Sean Casey works for a landscaping company that removes

snow as early as 3 a.m. when conditions require it. Casey, a

student a Front Range, removes any snow over two inches from

business in Old Town. If the snow continues to fall, Casey might be

called out of bed again to plow away the evidence.

“Sometimes it’s hard to wake up so early,” Casey said. “But my

job makes it easier for others to get to work in the morning and

that helps.”