The stove is hot, the food’s not done, and dozens of kids pile up in the line. It’s lunch time and the staff are rushing up to serve the starving students waiting in line to feast.

Vanessa Romero and Edith Burgos are part of the cafeteria staff and help to make sure the food is ready before lunch is served, and that the kitchen is clean and in order.

“A typical day at work for me is a mix of emotions,” Burgos said. “It’s not the same taste, eating a pizza to eating nachos because all the flavors are different and so are we.”

Most of the lunch staff are from different parts of the world.

“We’re from different nationalities and cultures,” Burgos said. “And sometimes we argue but sometimes we’re really happy.”

Working in the cafeteria includes not only cooking, but also cleaning, maintaining order, and serving the high school students.

“Cooking is the hardest part of the job,” Romero said. “I love attending the public, but most of the time I don’t like being inside of the kitchen, so it stresses me out because of the pressure I get from the people around me.”

While cooking might be the hardest part of the job for Romero, Burgos loves to cook and it’s her favorite part of the job.

“Vanessa doesn’t like to cook but I love to cook because it’s the most fun part for me,” Burgos said. “I don’t like to clean and when we close, we have to organize and clean everything.”

Since Romero is cooking a variety of meals each day, she’s learned which foods are the hardest to prepare.

“Chinese food is the hardest one to cook for me,” Romero said. “I don’t really know the recipe because I can’t memorize it, and improvising is not allowed in the kitchen.”

Burgos has learned which foods the students love the most by noticing the amount of food left at the end of lunch.

“The students love Chinese food and the chips because they’re always gone,” Burgos said. “I think the one they hate is the pasta because we always have leftovers.”

Since the students that Burgos and Romero work with are from many different countries, some of them have suggested foods that define their culture.

“One time a student told me we should make arepas for breakfast because he liked them,” Romero said. “It wasn’t a critique, but it was more of a suggestion.”

Despite the fact that the job sometimes might be hard, Romero’s strong relationships with her coworkers helps her with her day-to-day routine.

“My workmate always pleases me with what I want to eat,” Romero said. “If I want tacos, she brings me tacos and if I want enchiladas then she brings me enchiladas.”

Romero is able to find joy in the little things at work, especially in the support she receives from her team.

“It motivates me to get up every morning,” Romero said. “And it makes me like the work environment because I eat a lot, and she always pleases me with what I want to eat.”

Kitchen jobs can be really stressful, and Burgos has some advice for people who are struggling in those jobs.

“Have a lot of patience,” Burgos said. “Like I’ve said before we’re all from different nationalities and cultures, so we have to be patient with each other even if it’s not possible sometimes, if the job is really stressful and hard you don’t have to stay, there’s lots of job opportunities out there.”