Senior Cole Feyen once made an acquaintance by simply knocking at someone’s front door.
Sentinel Pointe Retirement Community has been his home for more than a year. He reminisces about a time when he and his colleagues were delivering meals.
During the first quarantine, Cole said, every resident had to have every meal delivered to them, so as the servers, wed take a cart for a certain floor out, knock on thirty peoples’ doors, give them their food, and then go on to the next.
A small gesture like this led to a more developed pastime. Cole was the one who got it.
Cole said that we met a woman who was very friendly and just started to get along with us. We would meet her in a room, and we would talk to her while she was making food or doing exercises. She just always let us in and talked to us and gave us food, and sometimes, we’d sit out on her porch and just converse.
Cole has developed genuine relationships with residents while working in this position. Cole was initially hesitant to accept the opportunity. However, thanks to the encouragement of his friends, Cole is now happily working there and thriving every day.
My friends [seniors]Cole stated that Holly McLenithan (left) and Olivia Dewald (right) have been there since before any quarantine. They asked me to serve with them during the first quarantine, my sophomore year. I said no. [at] first. After a while I decided I wanted to change jobs. It seemed fun.
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There are so many different viewpoints on life and different things, so it’s kind of interesting to get that huge range of perspectives.”
— Cole Feyen
Cole’s dedication to his new job has resulted in Sentinel Pointe becoming a part his school schedule. This is a course called Work Experience. This is when students can leave school to go to work during the day.
This is a huge advantage for Cole. Cole is able to not only get an early dismissal but also work a few more hours and spend more time with co-workers. He comes in at 1:00 p.m., when everyone else arrives closer to 3:30 p.m., and he carpools along with senior Merrick Schaafsma. They are conveniently on the exact same schedule.
Now, it’s a bit different because I have Work Experience, Cole said. There are three meal times: breakfast, lunch and dinner. If I arrive early, I will roll any extra silverware. [and]I will wash dishes. I can basically do anything to prepare for dinnertake orders that people are putting in on the phone, prepare the dessert for the night, just random stuff I’m doing while nobodys there.
Cole has made many friends from Sentinel Pointe through his dedication to Sentinel Pointe. Cole has seen his senior year expand his horizons and has been able watch and appreciate the growth of his co-workers.
Cole began his journey, and I met some older children from other high school. I was there. [people]From a server to a chef All the servers now are just Central kids, so it’s us and all the little freshmen.
Cole enjoys being with everyone at work. Although the shifts can be long and take a lot of effort, Cole finds it enjoyable. His co-workers make it even more enjoyable and still manage to be productive.
Cole said that everyone is fun. We don’t find it distracting because we are able to manage our time to do our work. thenWe mess around. Everyone is responsible for making sure that everything is done properly. Everybody understands that we’re going to help each other out to get stuff done.
Cole has found humor in his work at Sentinel Pointe, but it has also provided him with so much valuable life experience that he will be able to apply it to all aspects of his life after high school.
He is uncertain about his future, but he is confident that he has acquired a range of skills in both the business and social worlds. He is grateful to his coworkers and residents for giving him different perspectives on life.
Cole explained that I learned a lot about the business’s operations, and that all aspects must work together. Otherwise, everything will fall behind. There are so many different viewpoints on life, so it’s kind of interesting to get that huge range of perspectives.
