Cleaning House: Side Job Suits Film Student
Deviroux D鈥橢rrico describes her personal housekeeping style as 鈥渙rganized chaos.鈥� Professionally, though, she always puts her best mop forward.
D鈥橢rrico, a 国产探花 junior, works as a part-time house cleaner while studying film. She鈥檚 been tidying and scrubbing for pay since she was in high school. 鈥淚 was just looking for any work; in high school you鈥檒l take anything you can get. I started working at a nursing home as a dietary aide, just filling cups, handing them out, cleaning dishes. Then the Housekeeping Department needed coverage and I decided I liked that a lot more,鈥� D鈥橢rrico says.
She especially liked being able to interact with the older people living there. 鈥淲orking in the nursing home is really nice 鈥� just to sit down and talk. All the residents want is someone to talk to them 鈥� and that鈥檚 all anyone wants,鈥� D鈥橢rrico says.
Since leaving the nursing home position, she works freelance, taking on individual clients. They鈥檙e not always as friendly as the nursing home residents, she notes. One of weird things about her job, she says, is the dynamic between client and housekeeper 鈥� some people see her more as 鈥渉elp鈥� than as a human being.
Despite this, D鈥橢rrico says she enjoys housekeeping. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really good for people who have the kind of brain that鈥檚 really relaxed by repetitive, tedious tasks. That鈥檚 definitely me,鈥� she says. The pay, she adds, is also a big bonus considering it鈥檚 more than the typical New Hampshire minimum wage of $7.25. Currently, she is cleaning for just one person, a Brattleboro, Vermont, resident she enjoys working with.
Housekeeping fits in well with D鈥橢rrico鈥檚 plans for the future. As a film major, she expects to be hired for project work, and cleaning gigs will help ensure a steady income. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 doing something that I really like, which is housekeeping, I don鈥檛 mind having a side job for the rest of my life,鈥� D鈥橢rrico says. 鈥淚’m going to be a happy person.鈥�
Bringing order to other people鈥檚 homes? It鈥檚 repetitive, but it鈥檚 also relaxing, D鈥橢rrico says 鈥� and there鈥檚 the immediate gratification of seeing how her hard work can bring a sparkle to a formerly dingy bathroom or kitchen.
鈥淚鈥檝e already got so many years of experience in this field. Why change it if I like what I鈥檓 doing?鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take some seriously traumatizing bathrooms to get me to stop.鈥�
鈥揜achel Vitello 鈥�20