With over 1,700 students on campus, Westmont has 108 trash cans on campus to serve the student body. This issue, I interviewed the man behind it all, Pedro Medina. Pedro is part janitor and part maintenance man, and is in charge of emptying all the trash cans on campus, as well as cleaning up any messes or accidents, and fixing anything that’s broken. Here’s our exclusive interview with the man behind the magic!
*This interview was done almost completely in Spanish, shout out to Maria Parrish for helping me translate*
Where did you grow up?
I grew up on a ranch in Mexico.
Where did you go to school?
I went to a local school for 3 years when I was a kid, kindergarten through second, then I stopped going to school and started working on a ranch to earn money.
What’s your favorite kind of music?
I listen to whatever’s on the radio, but I’ve always loved ranchera music.
What movies/tv shows do you watch?
I don’t really watch television, but when I do, I enjoy action and horror genres.
How long have you been working at Westmont?
I’ve been working at Westmont since 2018, and I started as a night janitor, but when a spot opened up on the morning crew I jumped at the opportunity. Before that I worked for the district as a janitor, and before that, I worked as a private janitor.
How do you like working at Westmont?
I enjoy it. It’s a lot of work, and going through over 500 trash bags a week, and filling up the dumpsters so often can get a little boring, but I always enjoy working in the morning.
Next time you see Pedro in the halls, make sure to say hi, and to tell him thank you for all the hard work he does at Westmont!
*The original interview was done in Spanish, some changes were made due to the translation*