Fredy Guzman

In 2003, Fredy Guzman joined dining services staff in the Department of Facilities. As a food service storekeeper, he is responsible for receiving all food products for the Butler-Wilson residential colleges, stocking inventory and ensuring that cooks have the necessary ingredients to prepare meals. Outside of the residential college dining hall, Fredy busies himself by acquiring new skills and enhancing skills he already possesses.

Fredy left his birthplace of Guatemala to come to the United States in 2002 after a career as a mechanic and a truck driver. After joining the Princeton staff, he was happy to discover that the University offers the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Summer Transfer Program. The program, managed by the Labor Relations Team in cooperation with various University departments, helps to place service employees in trade shop and other positions during the summer in order to have a hands-on experience to acquire new skills.

During the summer months, the transfer program enabled Fredy to be a helper in the HVAC shop. The experience was so positive that it encouraged him to take additional classes at a vocational school where he is now in his second year of the Industry Maintenance Mechanics program.

More driven than ever, Fredy enrolled in the Excelling at Princeton Program in 2008 to enhance and improve his English language skills. For 36 weeks he participated in the English as a Second Language class where he focused on speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar. He admits that learning English was a bit intimidating at first but he was happy to have opportunity to do so through Princeton. Now Fredy is looking forward to helping others in his department and throughout the University to learn about the Excelling at Princeton program to improve their communication skills. He explained, “I enjoy working here, it is a blessing.”

Read about others who value professional development and are realizing their potential at Princeton.

Steve Garwood

Usha Patlolla