At 6 a.m., the Flores dormitory hall is silent, and a woman dressed in her blue uniform is the only one there. She stands alone with her cleaning equipment, ready to begin her workday.

The housekeeper in charge of Flores Hall, Susie Ortiz, has dedicated 15 years of her life to the university.

She begins her day at 4 a.m., catching a ride to work with her friend.

Ortiz not only takes care of cleaning Flores, but also, the Flores Lounge, better known as the Center for Academic Achievement.

She starts off on the first floor of Flores Hall, cleaning the front area of the building before the students wake up. Ortiz mops, scrubs and takes care of the restroom, to maintain a clean environment for the residents.

She works her way up each floor cleaning the toilets of the residents’ dormitory rooms as well as providing them with toilet paper once a week.

“When people miss I take over their area,” Ortiz said, explaining that in case of an emergency she must, as part of her job, take care of another area as well when a co-worker is absent.

With a huge smile on her face, Ortiz says, “I like my job.”

Although she likes what she does, she says she sometimes feels that the students do not appreciate her hard work.

“I feel like I get treated differently because I am a housekeeper,” Ortiz said, adding that there are students who do not even bother to greet her.

These factors are not discouraging to Ortiz because she enjoys what she does.

However, she said if she could have chosen another job it would have been teaching. Ortiz said, “I would have liked to teach kids.”