Ryan Kramer's Blog Post #2: The Short Pre-Midnight Special! Life at the Stetson Coffeeshop

As tricky as finding the proper inspiration for it is, it's gradually dawning on me that writing blog posts is honestly a lot of fun. There's more to my day-to-day routine than I tend to give myself credit for, and thus, more of that inspiration that I could be channeling into these posts. So in the meantime before I finally get the digital résumeé of my website up and running, I decided to whip one of these out late in the day...

But without further ado...can I just say that I really love my job at the Stetson University coffeeshop?

So much that I've actually worked there twice! Funny story. Suffice to say for now that the first time there from January to April 2022 was somewhat of a seasonal stint, with my time there since August 2023 obviously being longer-term. In the meantime before my second time working there, I held a job at Office Depot for about a year, which had its perks in the meantime. Ultimately, though, it was obvious that my heart belonged to the coffeeshop.

None of this is paid promotion, promise. (Partially because I'd have serious questions if it inexpliacably were.) Where do I even start with bragging about such a job? For starters, it showed how fast you can learn new things. That sounds obvious, but so many things were daunting starting out in the position, especially the register. In such a fast-paced retail envrionment, it seemed like I would never learn what I needed to in time, only to be surprised by how quickly everything could be pick up if you just take it in small, incremental steps.

And honestly...everything is surprisingly fun. "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life," as they say. Perhaps not exactly popular advice for multiple reasons, but I guess that it does at least apply here. Serving beverages? Preparing food? Even cleaning tables? May sound mundane, especially the latter, but there's a certain sense of satisfaction whenever it actually feels as though you're making a difference in your customers' experience.

The selection is also not too shabby. We get fun drinks depending on the season (between the St. Patrick's shake which I've had the pleasure of preparing in the past, and as of this February, our raspberry mocha latte with heart sprinkles). If your sweet tooth can withstand it, then our cookies are also great, especially after toasted and drizzled with caramel, as well as the honeybuns we also started serving today also when drizzled with caramel and heart sprinkles...I may need a glucose lab drawn after that...

Om.

Another surprising takeaway from the job is how closely-knit everything feels in the most unexpected ways. On at least one occasion has someone mentioned to me, "Hey, I recognize you from the coffeeshop!" as though I were some sort of mini-celebrity in DeLand. And the social aspect is something that's been crucial to me, given my aformentioned whining opening up about my "downtime" from 2017 to 2021. Just about every coworker has been supportive (including having one former classmate from George Marks Elementary as a coworker — it was simply amazing getting to speak again), and well, plain fun to be around, and we often interact as humans rather than coworkers — being people who actually see each other's wants and needs and help each other when we need it, not necessarily just with the job. And they're largely forgiving of my blunders, including this hot chocolate for a customer that met its demise thanks to a certain elbow. Don't tell any of my bosses that.

All of the above is just rambling and cutesy gushing, because again, the job (and especially miraculously landing the job a second time) is one of the best things that's happened to me, and an honest breath of fresh air. Yeah, maybe the growing, awkward age gap does leave me rather out-of-touch with the overall Stetson culture of 2024. But in my haphazard attempts to try to get ahead in life after graduation, I always knew I wanted to reconnect with my alma mater in some capacity.

Like I said in my previous blog post, you need to try one of our drinks sometime. We're open for longer than you'd think a coffeeshop would be open — college students need their quick fix in the darkest hours of the night.

As much as I want to beat myself up over what I see as my own lack of progress, I remind myself to be grateful for every step I've made along my journey so far, including every accomplishment in the coffeeshop. And as sappy as it sounds, remembering the importance of each step, no matter how small, is crucial.

Always remember that.

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