Passionate About His Job
“The students are what keep me passionate about my job. It’s exciting to see them succeed.” — Trent Wiederhold
In his 20 years at Alma, custodian Trent Wiederhold has built
relationships with countless students and stays in contact with many of
them long after graduation.
His dedication to his job and Alma students is why he is the latest recipient of President Saundra Tracy’s Scottie Dog award.
Trent Wiederhold, an avid amatuer photographer, with a photo he took of the Chapel steeple from Wright Hall.
Wiederhold
works first shift and mainly takes care of the Wellness Center, Wright
Hall and South Complex. He says the students are his favorite part of
working at Alma, and he considers them family.
“The students are what keep me passionate about my job,” he says. “It’s exciting to see them succeed.”
So exciting, in fact, that he makes a point to attend every graduation
and take candid photos. He sends students the shots, even using the PIG
book to identify students he doesn’t know.
“It’s a time consuming process, but it’s nice for the graduates to have those memories,” he says.
His favorite memory of working at Alma happened while he was cleaning
the bathroom in Mitchell Hall, which at the time was an all-male dorm.
As he was cleaning the stalls of what he thought was an empty bathroom,
he nudged open a stall door and thought he saw a person. He apologized
profusely and was closing the door when he heard snickering coming from
the doorway of the bathroom.
Students in the hall, knowing Wiederhold’s cleaning habits, had stuffed
clothing to look like a person. They even made the “person” look like
he was reading the newspaper.
“That was the funniest thing that has happened to me here,” he says. “It made my day.”
Posted: Wed, April 30th, 2008 at 12:06PM
