Barista Girls Getting in the Swing of Things

Missouri Baptist University is known for having one of the biggest coffee shops on a campus, students know it as the Perk.

This year the Perk has not only changed management, but staff as well, hiring eight new baristas — four girls and four boys — to take your order and make you a hot cup of coffee to keep you warm and caffeinated for a long day.

These new employees, four who are females, range from a variety of hometowns and majors.

Kelsey Keling, a sophomore nursing major from Troy, Missouri, has been working at the Perk since August, while sophomore Ally Gisher, a junior from Benton, Illinois, who is majoring in behavioral science, is new to the Perk this semester.

Kelsey Dotson, a junior from Labedy, Missouri, who is double majoring in special education and elementary education, is a seasoned student who started working at the Perk this school year, while senior Jessica Yost, a Christian ministry major from St. Louis, is the final new barista girl this year.

Training for these barista girls was very similar to the boys’ training, starting off the semester as any new barista worker does, learning the ropes of the job. Even though they all went through it, each worker has a different story to tell.

For someone like Dotson, she only had about one quick hour of training.

“As silly as this sounds, it was really frustrating at first because I’m so short,” said Dotson, who is 5-foot-1. “I can hardly see inside the pitchers when I steam milk for lattes, so if you don’t already know who I am, I’m the barista that steams on her tiptoes.”

However, Gischer and Keling both had previously worked at coffee shops, so coming to the Perk consisted of minimal new training.

“Training was fairly easy as I worked as a barista at a small coffee shop in my hometown called Cornerstone Coffee and Confections,” Keling said. “The only thing that was a bit tricky was memorizing the drink recipes.”

Yost had a good head start after asking previous baristas how to make certain drinks.

Another barista taught her how to “steam the milk, and the basic shots/flavoring ratios,” Yost said. “Beyond that, it was up to me to look for videos to figure out latte art, as well as I was also able to ask my husband and roommate a lot of questions, as they have both been baristas for some years.”

Baristas get to talk with and know whoever walks in their doors each day.

Working at the Perk means potentially making new friends and bonding with co-workers and customers.

Keling said she likes working at the Perk because it takes her out of her comfort zone.

Gaining skills and experience drew Yost to the job, while Gisher said she’s on campus often and saw the open position as a way to use her free time and start memorable conversations.

If you happen to order a turtle latte at the Perk, be sure to keep an eye out for Dotson.

“I joke a lot with the baristas from last year that they all knew me as the ‘turtle latte girl’ before they knew me by my name,” Dotson said. “If I wasn’t sleeping or at observations I was at the Perk, and I finally came to the realization that if I was going to spend that much time at the Perk I might as well get paid to drink my turtle lattes.”

Some days at the Perk are quite busy, if they are hosting an event or if it’s after class and students are flooding in to get their coffee before their next class.