Christian Lopez is a senior studying Human Physiology. He has worked at the EMU for over two years now; he has made memories, friends, and A LOT of Starbucks orders.
In this day and age, being a Starbucks barista is an incredibly stressful and demanding job; however, Christian manages to handle the morning rush and perfect the coffee orders of caffeine-dependent college students, all with a smile on his face. In the past, he has worked at a handful of different Starbucks locations but the EMU has his heart.
The EMU is the center of student life and campus. The building was constantly filled with friends grabbing coffee, people chatting for hours, and endless students studying. Christian was excited to get back to the hustle and bustle of the EMU but with COVID-19, things are different. What Christian misses most about his old work environment is the ambiance and naturalness of it. “With the new rules for the building, people canʼt just hang out and chill like they once were able to. The masks make it hard to communicate with people, and people canʼt just meet in the EMU for a cup of coffee or just to hang out.”
The campus Starbucks was more than just a workplace for Christian. It’s where he has made some of his closest friends and joined a community he never expected to be apart of. His favorite memory from working there was when he took a camping trip with all of his coworkers. When they arrived at the site, they spontaneously ran into the Chipotle employees doing the same thing. They teamed up and turned their impulsive adventure into an EMU camping trip.
Despite the change of pace, Christian is incredibly grateful for his job and the impact it has had on him. He credits his position for teaching him how far his efforts could take him and the importance of always giving a hundred percent. “As cliche as it sounds, Iʼve learned that I can do a lot more than I had thought I could. I thought that I had maxed out my potential but I saw that working hard, and continuing to practice a skill could make me even better. I learned to basically never settle and to keep trying to succeed.”
Christian never expected his job at the Starbucks EMU to have such a transformative roll on the type of person and life he would lead at the University of Oregon. It taught him commitment, patience, and to never overlook the little moments and opportunities in life. If you see him around the EMU, make sure to give him a wave!