Union Employee Spotlight

photo
 

David Sommers

Dining, Custodial Services
 

Years of Service

21 years
 

Jobs at Wellesley College

Food Service: Tower Court, Munger, Stone-Davis Custodian: Chapel, Botanic Gardens / Greenhouses
 

Other Jobs

Dog sitter, camp counselor, paper route, Print Shop, Custodian-Health Club, Clock Factory, restaurants, babysitting.
 

Where are you from and where do you live now?

First three years in Louisville, Kentucky.
Now Needham, MA.
 

Any personal or family stories you want to tell?

The first time I came to Wellesley was when I was four. My father brought me to the Hunnewell Italian garden to bird-watch. I remembered the strange trees, blue lake, and giant lion statues. For years, I believed it was a dream. Later in life when I found my way back, the lions had shrunk, the rest was real.
 

Any thoughts on working at Wellesley College?

I hadn't planned on working at Wellesley College; I really didn't even try. This guy, Mike, was a member of the health club where I worked. He was always at me to get a job here - I think he worked in the Science Center. I had just gone to California to ride my bicycle down the coast. I was only gone two and a half months, but when I returned I no longer had a job.

I frequented Green Beach as it was a hopping place in the 1980s. I showed up one day and there was Mike! He knew I didn't have a job. The first thing he said was, "Now you can get a job here!" I resisted and told him he could show me which building to go to if I decided to get a job at Wellesley in the future. He walked me over into a building, then into an office and said to a woman sitting there, "This guy wants a job!" I've been here since that day. I don't know what happened to Mike; I never saw him again.