Daily Lobo Spotlight

Chris Chappelle

Freshman

Political Science

Daily Lobo: What did you do for winter break?

Chris Chappelle: I actually worked up in Nebraska.

DL: What were you doing up in Nebraska?

CC: It's called a waste characterization study. It's where we go through landfills and sort the trash into different categories.

DL: Did you have a good time?

CC: No. It's absolutely wretched. You know those suits you see whenever there's some sort of biohazard catastrophe in movies and they wear the big bunny suits? It's just like that. You're in one of those, and it's like zero degrees, and you're just digging through piles of trash. It's just slimy and gross, and it stinks and it's long hours - but it's good money.

DL: How did you find that job?

CC: Well, my parents run an environmental engineering company, so I've got some connections, and they needed some workers.

DL: Do you think you would ever do something like that again during winter break?

CC: Yeah, probably, if the price was right.

DL: Did you do anything else during break with your free time?

CC: Not really. The places we were in kind of sucked. There wasn't much to do.

DL: What are your plans for the upcoming semester? Do you think you will incorporate environmental science into your studies?

CC: I'll probably apply it in some way. Since my parents have done it for so long, I know a bit about it.

DL: Did you learn anything while you were working out in the Nebraskan trash heaps?

CC: Well, this isn't the first time I've done it. So, not really. After a while, you learn trash is just trash. The first couple of times it's cool, because you see what people throw away. But after the third or fourth time, it's just tedious and boring and sort of sucks.

DL: Did you have any time to do anything fun here in New Mexico, like going skiing or snowboarding?

CC: No. I really wanted to, but I don't have the money. I like to ski.

DL: What's it like in Nebraska? Were there any good sides at all?

CC: Well, it's like real winter. It's real cold and there's snow everywhere, and that's neat to see I guess. But where we were, it's sort of out in the boonies, so there was really just nothing to do. I did not enjoy it.

DL: So, are you glad to be back to start taking classes again?

CC: Oh, I'm ecstatic. Going to school is much better than what I was doing and much easier.