We don’t see them often. Sometimes we don’t see them at all. But there are dozens of men and women who clean our classrooms, dining halls and public spaces during the night. Others patrol the lamp lit brick walkways of our campus. Still others work late to help our convenience stores, the Driscoll Student Center and other venues open late into the night. Below are three members of our nocturnal campus community.
Padilla’s story
Joe Padilla has been working for the university for 12 years. Currently, he does custodial work in the Driscoll Student Center.
“I like it but it’s hard to do things during the day,” Padilla said about the work he does.
Padilla works from 6 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. the next morning, Sundays through Thursdays, year round.
“We used to work from 10:30 at night til 6 in the morning, but that changed about a year ago,” said Padilla.
When he gets home he usually stays up and watches TV then sleeps during the day.
Padilla has six adult children, most of whom do not live at home but are still in the Denver area.
“We all know each other in Zone Five, this is Zone Five in Driscoll, which is nice and we see students up until midnight when Driscoll is closed,” said Padilla.
He has also worked for Denver Public Schools and
enjoys fishing and hunting.
Yebuah’s story
Ebenezer Yebuah is an international doctoral student seeking his degree in religion and psychology. Yebuah also works nights at the Centennial Halls convenience store. Yebuah came to the United States in 1999, from Ghana. English is Yebuah’s first language, but he speaks a local dialect from Ghana as well.
When he was first admitted to DU, he worked in Johnson-MacFarlane Hall to help pay for school and support his family. Yebuah lives with his wife and has three children. His oldest child is a freshman at Colorado State University and his wife, Rejoice, currently works in J-Mac.
“The morning I use for research,” said Yebuah who is working on his dissertation. “I am combining African studies with Carl Jung’s theory of the living spirit to explain funeral/ancestral practices and beliefs.”
Yebuah completed his undergraduate degree in Ghana and may pursue teaching after he graduates.
Monarrez’s story
Maria Monarrez is from Texas and has been working at DU for five years. Monarrez moved to Denver in 2002 and began working for the university soon after. She works in the Driscoll Student Center.
Her first language is Spanish but she has studied English at the English Learning Center through DU. Currently she is studying English at the Entercambio Comunidad.
“My kids know English so they help me to practice,” Monarrez said.
“I sleep from the time I get home, about 3 a.m., until 7 a.m.,” said Monarrez. She wakes up at 7 a.m. every morning to tend to her children.
“In the morning I do the cooking and the washing and get the kids to school,” Monarrez said.
“I need to attend to my kids but have to go to work,” said Monarrez about starting work at 6 p.m.
Her oldest child takes classes at the Auraria Campus downtown.
