This past summer, Macye Williams transferred her job with Fresh Ideas from McPherson College to William Jewell College. After working at the Cage for about a month, she has quickly made an impression on the student body with her positive, joyous attitude. I met with Macye at the Cage to chat about how she ended up working at Jewell, her favorite Cage item and her upbeat attitude.

“I’m originally from McPherson, Kansas. I actually just recently moved to the Kansas City area in June, and the reason I decided on Kansas City was just because I needed new, open space from McPherson, you know. I also wanted to continue working with Fresh Ideas. I was working with Fresh Ideas at McPherson College. Then, over the summer, I was working at Camp Bartle with Fresh Ideas, and that’s how I got the job here. I was given recommendation to Kiki [Strecker], and Kiki got me the job here.”

When asked about whether she’s enjoyed her experience working at Jewell so far, Macye shared that, despite a culinary learning curve, she treasures the close interaction she has been able to have with students.

“I really like [working at Jewell]. I’ve never done cooking before actually. This is my first time actually doing it. Camp Bartle was like [an] introduction to cooking for me because I was really thrown into that without even knowing that I was going to cook. I really like it here. The students are great. Everyone is so patient with me when I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s great!

“My favorite thing is that I get to be more one-on-one with the students, and I can have conversations with them while also helping them. That’s really, really nice.”

After a month of learning the ins and outs of the Cage’s menu items, Macye has decided on a clear personal favorite.

“I really like the Power Sandwich. It’s so good. I just really like vegetables, so obviously the spinach on it is great. The multigrain is so much better than just plain white bread… And the provolone cheese melted on the ham and everything. It’s so good, man.”

Before I met with her, I overheard her tell a coworker that she had worked the closing shift at the Cage the night before and got only a few hours of sleep before returning for her morning shift that day. Still, beaming as she took orders from students and laughing throughout my interview with her, Macye remained so upbeat and jovial that you’d never expect she was running on only a few hours of sleep.

Macye reflected on how she keeps up this impenetrably positive attitude.

“I’m not gonna lie, I don’t know why it is, I’ve just always been like this. Some days are obviously harder than others, but it’s so much easier to get through the day with an upbeat, positive attitude because when you’re down, the day is just gonna go longer. If you don’t have anything good to look at [you can just say], like, ‘Hey! You got through five minutes. That’s good!’”