While the U.S . has a Diversity Visa Program, it’s quite a long shot to get in it. It’s so unlikely in fact that it’s known as the “Green Card Lottery.” It gives 55,000 visas when more than 14 million people apply, according to the State Department.

Solomon Gebremariam applied. And he won.

Gebremariam is from Ethiopia but now cleans dishes in Fountain Dining Hall. He’s been working here for about a year and a half.

 ”The American government gives a chance to all African countries and Asian countries – without that chance I would not work here,” Gebremariam said.

He said he’s grateful for an opportunity to advance himself and his family. He still remembers the exact day he got here–Sept. 18, 2008.

As soon as Gebremariam got off the airplane in Dallas, he recalled enjoying the view of the new landscape. In the three years since, he said he has liked the peace of the U.S . and the opportunities for people to do as they please.

“Everybody’s free,” Gebremariam said.

Gebremariam said he enjoys working in the dining hall because of all the people, which he said helps him with his English.

The members of the facilities staff, like Gebremariam , are often overlooked by students, but have compelling lives of their own.

Karl Pearce came to work at the University to further connect with family ties.

“My grandmother worked at State college for 28 years,” Pearce said.

He said he enjoyed working in the same physical place as his grandmother—he is the facilities technician in charge of the D.H . Hill Library.

Pearce is unique in that he uses the college environment to observe social changes that are taking place. He said his favorite time was around lunch, when he could take a break and watch the hustle-and-bustle around the Brickyard.

“I get to go to the court out there and I can hear and see different things going on—some of the preaching—you know, different spokesmen are out there in the courtyard.”

He also likes to read the messages in the Free Expression Tunnel to hear the opinions of the students.

One of Pearce’s favorite things to observe is the diversity on campus, especially in the library where so much interaction takes place.

 ”It’s a lot of diversity in many different ways,” Pearce said. “I’m looking at the racial issues.”

Laura Waring , a facilities technician in Sullivan Hall, doesn’t usually get the opportunity to share her unique passion of the arts.

 ”I love music. Music is like breathing,” Waring said.

Waring has been singing all her life, and can sing first and second soprano and alto—she learned through attending church and school choirs. Not only does she perform the songs, she writes them. She said she especially enjoys writing lyrics, as she has a fascination for poetry.

She also dances and choreographs the steps herself. “Back in the day,” as she put it, she used to perform.

“I am a superb dancer,” Waring said.

While she currently isn’t in any singing or dancing group, it isn’t for lack of enthusiasm. She’s caught up working on a project of her own.

“I would like to create some music and lyrics and perhaps do some DVDs,” Waring said.

For Patricia Hardy, her favorite pastime is to spend time with her family or her co-workers.

 ”It’s not all about the money—it’s just being with your friends, because we’re all like a big family here,” Hardy said.

Hardy has been working at the University for nine years in the Fountain Dining Hall. She started off as a temp and stayed because she enjoyed it so much.

“We fix up all the desserts and all the salads. I love seeing kids eat–me being a mother. I have college kids.”

She has one son in California studying to be a pastor and another in Wake Tech studying criminology. She has other family members in the area too—she comes from a big family of about 15.

She said her favorite part of the job is getting to meet all the students that come through the dining hall.

“Seeing the kids, meeting the kids, talking to them… it makes you feel good when they say the food is good,” Hardy said.