Hawkeyes Share Their Most Memorable Summer Jobs

“The summer after freshman year, I worked swing shift at a small-town truck-stop cafe. During the overnight shift, I was officially in charge at age 19. I had no idea how valuable that was going to be later when I interviewed for teaching jobs. ‘You’re only 22. How are you going to maintain classroom discipline with a roomful of 18-year-olds?’ Well, I’ll tell ya…”
—Valerie Barnes Lipscomb (82BA)

“Detasseling corn and working at an I-80 truck stop. Very glamorous.”
—Gaye Plunkett (74BA)

“I met my future employer at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. He was in our hotel with his wife, and I was in my Hawkeye Marching Band uniform after the parade. We started chatting, and they told me if I needed a summer job I should look them up at their insurance agency in Coralville. I got home and decided to call them and went for an interview and was hired for answering phones and other office work. Ended up working for them for a couple of years.”
—Kristin Stack Hale (85BA)

“Between my stints as a teaching assistant and resident assistant, in the late ’60s I was a beer server and occasional doorman at Joe’s Place. While having a bite to eat at Joe’s Place, the owner, Dan Berry (57BA, 59LLB), asked if I would work for him that night as he was shorthanded. The rest is history; the pay was $1.25 per hour, and the only alcoholic beverage was beer at 25 cents a glass. In one night of the NCAA Tournament, we served 10,000 glasses. Tips were rare, but the interactions with legal-age students and off-duty Iowa City cops kept me moving between the bar and tables for hours on end.”
—Emanuel Pollack (67MS, 70PhD)

“One summer I worked in a glass jar and bottle factory. My UI education saved me from having to go back there.”
—Jo Ann Smajd Kazor (76BA)

“Far and away my most memorable summer job was working at The Daily Iowan, the independent, student-run news outlet. I cut my teeth as a metro editor, spearheading our coverage of major local and regional news, from Iowa City Community School District happenings to downtown Iowa City development, and crime and courts coverage. Each summer, my leadership and empathy grew, including during the 2014 midterms and 2016 general elections, in large part thanks to the support and encouragement from my former metro editors.”
—Quentin Misiag (16BA)

“All four years at Bishop Heelan High School were preceded by my working the summer months at Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, as I recall now some 61 years later. Being a memorial cemetery meant ONLY flat tombstones, although some did have vases that could be upturned for flowers. All graves were dug by hand, four layers of soil removed using an 18-inch spade, resulting in a 6-foot deep excavation (state law). Here in Mississippi, there is no law, but what’s the difference to you, as your soul has now moved on to its final transition.”
—Michael Story (78BS)

“The best summer job in all Iowa City in the late 1990s: cooking and bartending at The Airliner!”
—Scott Hall (98BA)

“Following my UI freshman year, I spent the summer working at Ledges State Park south of Boone. Spending each day in one of Iowa’s most beautiful parks was such a privilege. The limestone cliff faces, babbling creek waters that define serenity, and old growth trees of every size and shape forever changed my appreciation of Mother Nature. Ledges is still one of my favorite places on the planet.”
—Dave Linder (80BGS, 82MA)