Appalachian Dining Hall is more than just an architectural attraction for the students who trek up and down the path to eat there every day.
Students say that Michelle Mann, one of the cashiers at Mountainview’s eatery, is the kind of woman who makes you want to be a better person, if only so that when you come back to show her all that you have accomplished, you will be greeted with her familiar smile. With short red-brown hair that falls just above her shoulders, happy eyes and a youthful smile, Mann is not someone who is easily forgotten.
And although she is the self-proclaimed ‘lamest person in the world,’ she is admired by all who have met her.
‘They really love her, don’t they?’ said Bob Griffin, marketing director of Sodexho Services at Binghamton University.
But still, Mann remains modest. ‘I’m a gypsy,’ she said of herself.
Born and raised in Woodside, Queens, Mann has been a resident of Binghamton for the last 10 years, although she has only worked at Sodexho Dining Services for the last two years. Before beginning her job on campus, Mann had worked in the medical field for 13 years as a certified nursing assistant.
‘It was a great job opportunity,’ she said, explaining the sudden career change. Between her summer-long vacation and holidays off, working on campus is ‘a dream job for any mother.’
A mother of two and a stepmother of two more, Mann’s eyes light up whenever her children are mentioned. ‘My eldest just got into West Point!’ she exclaimed.
According to Mann, it is her love and adoration for her family that led her to work for Sodexho at Binghamton University, a decision she said she has never regretted. Not only does she say that the job provides her with a flexible schedule so that she is better able to care for her younger daughter, it’s also an environment that she loves. ‘College kids are fun,’ she said.
Mann’s affection for family and children extends beyond her own as she considers many of the students that pass through her line to be her children. ‘There’s one girl that calls me her ‘mother away from home,’ she said as she rung up one of her many admirers.
Mann is so familiar with many of the students who eat at Appalachian Dining Hall that she boasts she knows most of them by name. ‘This is Evan, he’s going to do my finances,’ she said motioning to Evan Dworkin, a sophomore finance major.
‘She’s incredibly nice,’ he said.