Ask any of the 83 Brandeis Dining Hall workers, and they will tell you they “looooove Miss Regina Pierce.”
The beam of light who checks students, faculty and staff into Brandeis Dining Hall shares her story, from working at Sodexo for 23 years to her health and beauty secrets.
Mother of one, Miss Regina says she strives to act like a mom away from home for the students here at Creighton. Her daughter went to college, often calling home, asking why no one would guide her there. Miss Regina, familiar with the difficulties of attending college, says she is here to prevent students from feeling lost.
“If I can help somebody have a better day, I will try and help them have a better day. I enjoy the kids. We have fun. We laugh about a lot of things. I learned about different personalities,” she said. “If you have some that are having a bad day, I try to cheer them up! You ask them, are they OK? And they say no. But before it’s over, they’ll be laughing when they walk away from here.”
After working in retail for 13 years, she found her way to Creighton in 1999. Willing to work where she was needed, she first settled in Becker Hall, one of the dining halls on campus. Fast forward to today, and students can find Miss Regina any day, Monday through Friday, breakfast or lunch, handling her spot by the ID scanner.
Brightening up Brandeis from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with her optimistic demeanor, Miss Regina expects to have a good day. She comes in happy and leaves happy. She attributes much of it to her coworkers.
“I like my coworkers. We are like a family. We look out for each other on good days and bad days. We try to help each other through the day,” she said. “And if it’s a bad weather day, we can communicate with each other. We are trying to get to work the best we can, and we already know the senior people probably won’t make it because they’re scared of slips and falls.”
One thing most students are shocked by is her age. Two years from 60, Miss Regina’s youthful appearance is incredibly deceiving. What is her secret? Diet and exercise, she says.
Starting her morning at 5 a.m., she drives to campus, hikes up the hill by the law library, goes to work, and then returns home and rides her bike for 30 minutes.
As for diet, Miss Regina shares her go-to meal at Brandeis.
“I am a salad person. I try not to eat processed stuff, so I like to stick to fruits, vegetables, and solid proteins,” she said. “My go-to is a regular vegetable salad. No dairy and no meat in it. Just all vegetables. Olives, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, stuff like that.”
Here, she drizzles Italian dressing on top. At home, she uses her favorite, Olive Garden’s Italian Dressing.
But the biggest secret to her success? Her faith. Belonging to the local Salem Baptist Church, Miss Regina’s mantra is: “Let go and let God.”
“I feel like if you stress on anything, especially at work, it’ll consume you and make you sick. You don’t want to be sick! You want to stay healthy! So, you can’t stress on things,” she said. “You need to move forward and try to help somebody else have a good day as well.”
Miss Regina comes from a home with eight kids. She attributes her positive outlook on life to her siblings.
“The oldest is 61. The youngest is 41. We span 20 years. With all these siblings, you have your ups and down,” she says. “But life goes on! Don’t live with stress. Just say a prayer and get past it.”
Faith Geis, a junior in the College of Business majoring in marketing, management and theology, reflects on her days of chatting with Miss Regina before a quick bite at the dining hall.
“Miss Regina is truly the welcoming face of Brandeis Dining,” she said. “Being welcomed by her warm presence to come and enjoy breakfast or lunch is one of the highlights of my day at Creighton. She continually makes me feel at home, asking how my day is going and how I’m doing. She’s always ensuring everything’s going well in my life.”
Miss Regina’s advice to everyone: “Just be great!”