Cool Cat: Lee Banford
Q&A by Blake Kjellesvik
Lee Banford is in his fifth year at CWU studying geology and stem and is also a part time custodian on campus. He has ambitions in teaching and also takes pride in keeping the dorms clean for students.
Q: What do you like about your major, and what's your plans after you graduate?
A: I plan to do science education. Working in high schools, middle schools or … camps, things like that. Teaching more people about earth science. I like it because it's challenging. I was an art major, and I switched my junior year into geology, so I really like the challenge. … I love the sciences. I've always liked it, and so it's fun.
Q: What do you enjoy about going to college at CWU?
A: I enjoy the community. … It's nice knowing [others are] going through the same stuff I am right now. We're [all] doing finals, and that sucks, but we can relate on it. … I just like having that sense of community. I feel like it brings people closer.
Q: What exactly do you do in your job [as a custodian]?
A: We take care of all parts of dorms: … cleaning out the inside of the trash bins, we take care of the clogged toilets, … the outside trashes, snow removal, putting the de-ice down, anything to do with the dorms besides maintenance stuff is what we take care of.
Q: What's the craziest thing that's happened on the job?
A: It didn't happen to me, but it was insane. There was this one time we were cleaning out one of the rooms from the summer, and there was … like, gallons of pee. … The water bottle gallons. … The craziest things are really disgusting things. … It's all typically kind of negative, too.
Q: Custodial work is obviously essential, but oftentimes is invisible. What do you wish students understood about the job that you do?
A: More respect, I guess, in general. … I work in the dorms and it's kind of crazy in there. People don't take care of the buildings that well. … There's a lot of times damage that happens, like paper towel dispensers getting ripped off walls and stuff. So I think it's just kind of a general respect thing, that there's people that do work in these buildings all the time, and they do a lot of work to maintain them, and it just sometimes feels disregarded. …
So it's just … one of those things where you kind of just don't think about it. … Before I was working in it, I didn't think much about it, but now that I do, I'm like, thank you everybody.
Q: How has working the job shaped the way you view other people in the community?
A: I appreciate people more. … Especially if you're going out of your way for stuff, it's like, oh my gosh, that's so kind. … I feel like that’s something I've noticed with our generation and stuff. It’s like, people do appreciate things, and … I love it. … It makes me so happy, and it just gives me so much hope for this world that we live in.
Q: What would you say is your favorite part of the job?
A: I think it's the whole … appreciation aspect. … I do get a lot of fulfillment out of doing my job and knowing that I am helping people and providing people a clean space.
Q: If you could say one thing to the people on campus, what would it be?
A: Just have respect for each other. Have respect for your spaces because it is a privilege. … Not everyone gets to go to college and are able to live on campus and provided this stuff. So I just think [have] respect and [be] happy and understanding.