Working for Mayo Clinic allows me to meet a variety of people; I know most of the nurses on the floors, and I meet the doctors as well as the housekeepers. Mayo is a good place to work with good benefits, and it's a stable employer.

I like being able to see patients, because I feel like I am making their day better. It is nice to meet new people and give them their food with a smile and try to cheer them up. I like the people I work with; our team truly gets along very well. We usually handle about 650-800 trays per day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which requires a coordinated team effort. Usually each person handles about 20-30 patients per meal, and sometimes as many as 40. You are moving pretty quick. I work 6:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., but there are other shifts available that start throughout the day, and some are designed specifically for high school students' schedules. Since I am a full-time employee, I work every other weekend; high school employees usually work every weekend unless they request time off. My typical day consists of going through inventory, delivering food trays to the patients, picking up trays from the floors, working with dieticians and regular cleaning in the kitchen.

You have to be friendly in this line of work, and you have to be able to catch on quickly and learn where the floors are. You have to be able to remember the small details, like where you have been and haven't been. Sometimes you get double trays or you get the wrong food orders for patients, and you are responsible for correcting those. I am pretty proud to work for Mayo Clinic.

If you are not sure what you would like to do, try to get into something you think you would like. In my current position, I have been able to observe what other people do, and it has made me realize there are a lot of things out there that I would like to do. It opens your eyes as to what else is out there.