I worked at JMU's biggest dining hall for 4 semesters, and I seriously could not have asked for a better first job.
I worked at D-Hall from spring of 2022 until the spring of 2024, spending most of my time working the bakery station or Hen and Harvest. Mostly I was in stations managing newer employees, helping train, or doing a lot of customer-facing work. Bakery was an exception to this because that was my station solely. I ran, maintained, and closed it by myself every time I was in there. A lot of people underestimate food service as a job, but it's a good amount of work!
When I think of a great workplace culture, D-Hall is the first thing that pops into my mind. We were a big family in the non-culty way. My managers were strict, but extremely kind and competent people. My coworkers, from townies to fellow students, were hard workers and very friendly.
D-Hall taught me a lot about management, soft skills, organization, and team building in the four short semesters I worked there. It was genuinely a job you just can't forget.