have been in the United States for 7 months. I want to write something about my job. I'm working at the University of Virginia in Newcomb Hall's dining salad bar section. My responsibility is to prepare the salad, to clean the vegetables, to use the machine for cutting the cucumbers, peppers, carrots, onions, mushrooms, etc. After I cut the vegetables, I put them all in the refrigerator. I fill up the 10 various bottles of vinegar and dressing. During dinner time, I fill up the salad bowls, trays and bottles. I also check on and change the soup. Sometimes I push the cart from the dish room to bring and replace some bowls.

For the first few weks, everything was strange for me. Communication was difficult. When they talked to me and I talked to them, we did not understand each other. The work was also strange for me. Sometimes I could not call vegetables by the English name. How to use the time was confusing. I learned everything step by step. Sometimes I made mistakes. Sometimes I did not finish my job on time. Where they kept each kind of food was different. Finding the food was difficult. The job was essential for everyone.

To have a job, I have income. I can pay rent, meals and expenses. In the meantime, I like this job. The salary is not too much. The schedule is the same each week. Five days a week, I'm a full-time worker. Every day I go to work is different. To go to work on somedays I leave either from home, the Adult Learning Center, or church. My home, the Adult Learning Center and our church are near my job. Transportation is easy, but I think the job is good in the meantime, and hopefully, I will get a better job.

To mention some of them: the new building and hospital, Martha Jefferson, Peter Jefferson 2 and 3, Center of Intelligence on Route 29 before Ruckersville, and other buildings that are on Fontaine Avenue here in Charlottesville, and different homes in different places.

Neighbors, it's for this that I feel proud of my work because I know what I have done is serving this place and maybe one day my family will have the pride of being inside the buildings to know that someone from their family participated in the construction. Also I thank the different companies for giving me the opportunity. And I thank that I feel happiness and pride when I see all that and I realize the importance of my work.

What I like best about my work is undoubtedly...the day that I receive my pay or my check. To know that thanks to this hard work I received pay and thanks so that I can support my family, pay rent, and the different services that a home requires, but it gives me more happiness when I buy a toy with this money, a piece of clothing, or something that pleases my children.

It is importnat to know that with a good job, everything can be achieve: to live in this country and to help our families, principally mine who lives in Mexico, and I feel proud of being Mexican and also proud of my work that thanks to this I have obtained benefits but also have helped inthe growth of a town or city and learned an occupation that I am proud of. Thank you.

or twenty nine years i worked in a clock manufacturing plant. During this time I learned to do several different jobs.

My first job was working in the Parts Assembly Department. This job requried assembling several different individual parts into one completed part. Most people would be surprised to know how many parts go into a completed clock.

The next job was working in the stockroom. This was a challenging position because I had to learn the part names and part numbers of thousands of clock parts.

My last job was working in the Shipping and REceiving Department. This position involved packing the completed clocks into cartons and shipping them to the customers.

I enjoyed doing this type of work because it allowed me to learn how a clock is made from the first part to the completed product.

y name is Ayad Albaldawi.

I am from Iraq.

In Iraq I was an actor. I also directed plays and was a drama writer. Sometimes I wrote in the newspaper. All these are my favorite things to do, but maybe I prefer to be an actor because this job lets me work directly with the people.

I am very happy when I am playing onstage. I feel like a bird flying in the sky.

In Iraq, when I first got up, I took a shower, brushed my teeth and combed my hair. After that, I hate some honey and a green apple. Then I relaxed for 30 minutes in my room and listened to music. After I ate breakfast, I rode in my car and went to the theater. I went to the special room and changed my clothes and took rest.

Then I practiced my job in my play, and the play started. When I was on stage, I was another person because I fly in the space. When the people clapped every few minutes, I asked myself, "All the people came to see me, so there is responsibility for that job." After clapping, I went back to acting and did a great job.

When the play ended al the people clapped for me. That is my happiness. Thank you for listening.

come from Burma. I have been here one year. I live with my family.

I have two jobs -- day job and night job. My day job is at UVA Dining Hall in the kitchen and my night is the Daily Progress. They are very important for my life because I pay my rent, Comcast, IRC for my planetticket, cell phone, car insurance, and Dominion Power.

In my job I see my new friends and work together. I am very happy because we work together and eat together. I cook in the USA every day except for the weekends. Sometimes I am busy, but I remember that in my country I was not busy because in my country I was very lazy. I live here, I am not lazy because I worry I have no money. I am trying to make my life and my history good.

utting firewood for a living is not the best profession for making money but a very involved one. I started cutting wood part time when I was a kid. It always seemed like ridiculously hard work for little money and I never cared much for it. But, as I grew older I learned it wasn't so bad. It is straight cash and rather peaceful work. I mostly work alone so there are no bosses to bother me, nobody to tell me what to do, or anyone to conflict iwth.

I usually started off my day bright and early with a pot of coffee and a chainsaw file. I make sure all my tools are razor sharp and gassed to go. I try to get as much bucked up as I need for splitting first thing. Usually I can cut and split three sometimes four loads a day by my lonesome. Most people wouldnot even bother with this tyle of work, but I guess I'm not much like anyone else. It seems like everyone else wants to get caught up in life's chaotic ways. I just want to work until I'm tired and go home and listen to the stream running by my camp. Take it from someone who knows life doesn't have to be so complicated.

n China, nurses always are glorified as "angels in white." Not only because they are in a white dres, but also because they have firm beliefs. "Burn themselves to illuminate other people." Maybe it is the good reputation of angels that intoxicated me so that I decided to be a nurse.

Everyday I'm in pure whtie work clothes and show a smile to every patient. Everyday I inject and deliver medicine and make the bed for patients. Everyday I hand over my patients to the next shift. I carry on day and night. Everyday I do the same thing. Suddenly, I felt disappointed. Is this the work of a nurse? Is this the so-called angel in white? There is nothing in the job that made me like a heroine. Is this what I want? Later I experienced something that made me really love to be a nurse.

It was a very cold winter evening. A doctor and I talked about our future. At this time there was an urgent little patient. His name was Siyu Xie. He was eleven years old. When he came to our hospital he could not walk and he could not pronounce clearly. He had a stomach tube in his mouth and fresh blood flew out frequently. I remmebered this boy came here several months ago because he had pneumonia. But for several months we had not seen him. How did he come to look so bad? It is so difficult to accept this for me.

This time he had an unusual cephalitis. He just came back from Beijing and he was hopeless. The only thing we could do was to try our best to prolong his life. When I made a transfusion for him I asked, "Are you in pain, Siyu?" "No, Aun-ty," he used his tongue which was not flexible and siad this indistinctly and then smiled at me. After I finished the transfusion he said, "Than-k you, aun-ty." My god, how adamant he was; how cute he was. Why is life so frail? My tears fell down from my eyes and I could not control it. I said to myself, "Little Siyu I will try my best to look after you. I will try my best to help you go through the last distance of your life." From this I know that nursing looks trivial, but it is great in fact. I will look after patients with my love, patience and responsibility. I want to make the faces that are painful smile again; make families full of laughing again. The angel's beauty represents sanity and goodness in fairy tales, but the angel in white's beauty is love and warmth.

y name is Ka Non. I'm from Thailand. It was very hard to get into the United States for me. I got here on August 18, 2005. On September 26th, I started working at Monticello Foundation, Inc. I like my job. It is not really hard. I work as a custodian and in maintenance. I work from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. When I got to Charlottesville, I didn't speak any English. I couldn't read or write. How did I learn to speak English? I learned from my job how American people speak. I try to speak like them. Sometimes I don't understand what they say when they talk to me. Everybody helped me learn how to talk and how to learn the customs. So this is why I love my job. It's not that bad for my first job and first time speaking English.

What about my second job in the morning? At 5 a.m. I wake up and I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and take a shower and comb my hair, put lotion on my body, go to my car, clean ff the snow, start the car for about 15 minutes and then drive my car to Harris Teeter. I make sushi every morning at Harris Teeter at Barracks Road Shopping center seven days a week. I love to make sushi. I like learning how to make sushi. I would like to have my own store in the future. IN my life, I never made sushi before. I thought sushi is good food for Japanese people, not for everyone. It is so hard to find a job in the U.S. because my English is a problem, and speaking also, but after I came to school, our class, I know better than before that I can write and read a little bit. I would like to come to English class every day and go to work.

am from Sudan. I have been in the USA for three years. I have worked at UVA Recycling for three years. I collect bottles and cans and newspapers. I love my job because i help myself and my family in Africa. I love USA.

work at Runk Dining Hall at the University of Virginia. My job is dishwashing. I work a full-time shift. My responsibility is to clean up some plates, bowls, silverware, and trays, and I put them back to each place so when people need them, they are ready to use.

I work six days a week. Monday is my rest day. Also, on Saturday and Sunday, I don't have to go to work early because I work in the evening.

Before I go to work, I punch my card to clock in. After that, I go to check the machine temperature and soap. Then I tart the machine running. I work with two people. One person is on duty on the belt. The other works in front of the machine, and the back of the machine is hwere I work. Also, I have 15 minutes for lunch time. That's it about a day at my work. It's easy for me. It is my first time working in the U.S.

November 4th, 2007 was my special day because I got a good paper from my manager. He wrote on the paper, "Heartfelt." That's why the day was special. I'm very happy.

orking in a medical facility you have the oportunity to do many jobs. Being employed for 13 years has helped me see how many ways you can help others. Housekeeping is the area that I am employed in at this time.

When arriving at work I'm always looking for a way to hel others. When cleaning in offices, dusting and vacuuming, are part of my job. But, looking back after the work is done encourages me to continue doing my best in my job. When leaving different areas throughout the facility, I sometimes see visitors looking confused. I always make sure they get where they need to go. Whenever I'm cleaning a room, I always try and encourage the patients whether it be with a smile or assisting them with a drink of water.

Seeing people in need and being able to help them makes me feel good. Patients have different challenges and sometimes go through a lot. From the beginning to the end of my day, I'm always looking for a positive way to make a difference in the life of someone else.

y job is a housewife and a student in the United States now. I attend the English classes ath the Adult Learning Center every morning, practice my English on computer online three times a week in the afternoon, converse with my English tutor two hours a week, and cook Chinese food every evening.

I have not been a student for thirteen years. Therefore, I was very excited and nervous. I was excited that I could meet many students who come from different countries and learned a lot of knowledge in these classes. I was nervous that I had to use the English language. I never used the language before in my classes. I was afraid. Now, I think it is not difficult for me, if I concnetrate to listen to my teacher and do home work. It is fun.

My other job is cooking. I spent little time to cook in Taiwan, because my job was very busy and my husband and I lived in different cities. But now, I look for the cookbook on the internet and learn how to cook. So my husband said, "I am your guinea pig." But he likes it.

I enjoy my present situation, but sometimes I miss my life before I came to the United States...

I worked at a life insurance company as a purchaser. My office was located at TAIPEI 101 Building. It was the highest in the world one year ago. I was proud of it.

I was responsible for general affairs, office decoration and mass gift procurement. The general affairs of our offices were cleaning and maintenance. The offices that we decorated were the rental offices for our agents' use. For mass gift procurement we found products and put on our company logo on them as gifts for our agents and customers. It waslike many stores that sell products with UVa's logo. I find these two colors, blue and orange, very popular in Charlottesville, because they happenb to be the colors on UVa's logo. Therefore, when they held football gmes, I saw alot of orange and blue. It shook and affected me.

My job was very busy. I always went home after 11:00 P>M> So, my colleagues said, "Fortunately, you and your husband live in different cities. Otherwise you would divorce." But I like my job even though I spent alot of time at work. It was an achievement when I finished a case. I looked for vendors, made quotes, cut prices down, and closed a deal, and it was a challenge.

I hope I can learn English very well and get a better job, like my classmates, they have great goals. One of them, who attended English class 2 times a week last term, now attends English class on time. He intends to be a university student. Another of them, who drove 40 miles to attend English class, thenwent to work last term, now schedules her job around when she doesn't attend her English class. Another student hopes that she can learn English to help Spanish speaking people. I very much admire my classmates, and it is a great honor to know people from all these different countries.

y job is laundry. My boss is very nice. I try. It's important. I like to open the mansion. My first day was 9/5/07. My best day is pay check day. Thank you.

y job is making sushi and sellint sushi, but the most important thing is that we re self-employed which means I do my own business. Many people are employees, only some people are self-employed. Self-employed people need a lot of energy because we have to control everything and take responsibility. On the other hand self-employed people are very creative. My husband and I enjoy our business very much right now.

Seven or eight years ago when I started making sushi, I really didn't like that job because I had to stand up all day in the cold place. The fish smell was bad. That job was so much hard work. Sometimes I started at five a.m. and worked until eight p.m. It was a long time ago. Right now I have gotten the knack of this job. I can work very smoothly. I can do many things in a short time. I can do efficient work. But most important for me right now: I have pride in my job.

For a long time I was thinking about which kind of job I should have. That point is important for me. It is an external thing. I'm a teacher, nurse CPA, manager, etc., but most important and the most precious thing is attitude for the job, not which kind of job. It doesn't matter which kind of job I have. My attitude is most important.

Our goal of life is not success. Success is no guarantee of life, but maturity is guaranteed to everyone. My work teaches me that. I learned many things from my work.

udge Peatross is a unique person who people look up to and he went out of his way to keep from walking on my wet floors to make footprints on the floor. He would take the elevator to keep from messing up floors. He also tried to keep his office clean by not getting crumbs on the carpets. Another thing that helped me a lot is turning off the light when he stayed late in his office. The judge has given me money for Christmas all the years he was judge. All these actions make him a kind, thoughtful person who treated me with respect.

If you met him, you would find out that he has a good sense of humor because he likes to talk about sports and play the lottery and hopes to win 34 million dollars for a Hawaiian trip to play golf. But he likes me to win the money so he can go for free. Unlike other judges, he treats me like a person, not like someone who is at the bottom of the totem pole. As a judge he is fair, in making impartial decision in court, too. He does not act like a smug person. He is a nice person you would be privileged to know. Things like this are what make Judge Peatross a unique and special human being. If people would treat others with respect as he does the world would be a better place in which to live.

y name is Atif Ibnouf. I am from Sudan. I am graduated from Elneeland University Faculty of Law.

I started working since I was in high school in my family's business (restaurant.) After I graduated from college, I started practicing law in a law firm. It was a good job.

Looking for better opportunity, I left my country to Oman. During my residence in Oman, I got a visa to the USA. In the USA I got my first job in KFC as a cook. At the beginning it was very hard for me day after day. I began to like my job and I started going to English class to improve my English so that I can obtain higher education in law.

am a tailor. I make clothes for women. Now in American I work at UVA. Working is good and my family is happy. All of them are good. I came to the IRC.

he people I wait on are nice people. Most of them will say, "How are you?" and when they leave they say, "Have a nice day." I say, "Have a nice day, too. Good to see you again." Most of these people are regular customers, so I know them by their names.

New people will come in for the first time. "It smells like the best bakery in town." And you know what? That's where I work. I'm rpoud to work in this bakery. I have worked here for 12 years. We sell cookies, muffins, Danish, croissants, pies and fruit bars. At our deli we sell sandwiches, salads, and soups; mostly it's take-out service for our customers who place orders for meetings.

My friend is a trainee learning to work up front with me. Today I showed her how to bag things. She also likes to slice. It's a good change from washing the dishes. I am showing her what I do up front. I restock coffee and wipe down the table. I help the person who closes the store in the afternoon bag what needs to be bagged.

My friend had a lot to learn. I hope I am a good teacher.

Another friend and trainee makes cookies and cakes to sell up front. And she also helps bake the cookies. I order coffee. I don't know what our customers would do if they didn't have their coffee. Or us for that matter! I also drink the coffee.

Something unusual happened close to the bakery. A guy driving a dump truck stopped over by "Styx." He got out of the dump truck. The trash had caught on fire! Everyone started looking out the door. Someone called the fire fighters to come and put the fire out.

It was a fun day to watch the trash catch on fire and put the fire out. It was a relief to me, I can tell you that! It even got on the news.

have been in Charlottesville for 2 years. I am happy with my life hre. But when I came to the USA, in my first month I lived in Houston, Texas. I remember it was really hard because I couldn't get a job and I didn't know anybody in that city. Sometimes I felt alone. I thought that all I heard about this country being a place of opportunities and dreams was false.

Then I decided to move to Charlottesville and my life changed. I got a job as a cook at a restaurant. In the first days I felt strange because I didn't understand what the people said, but I made friends here. Then I got another job as a carpenter at a company. Now my life is better and I can tell you that I was wrong when I thought there are not opportunities here. I think if I want and try, I can do anything I want. Now I live with my sister and my nephew. I enjoy my life in Charlottesville. It is a beautiful city. I am happy, but I still miss my family.