8A
NEWS
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PROFILE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2008
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2008
Meet the man behind the frying pan at GSP
BY JENNY TERRELL editor@kansan.com
Shaymarie Genosky/KANSAN
"It'll be about five minutes," Jim Carroll said to the three girls who arrived at his station at GSP dining hall to receive their Thai chicken wraps for lunch on Wednesday. Sweat slides down from Gropoll's hairstret and continues over his face, which is red from the heat rising from the burner.
Carroll loves to be here. He is the induction cook at the GSP Dining Center, meaning he cooks using pans heated by magnets. He cooks each guest's meal to order. Interacting with the residents and guests is what Carroll said he enjoyed most about his job.
"I like to find out where they are from, what's going on in their lives and if they like my food." Carroll said.
At 52, Carroll enjoys his life and has a great passion for cooking. He cooks at work, and when he goes home, he cooks more.
"He's had a love for cooking all his life;" said Ima Carroll, his mother.
Carroll was first inspired to cook as a child, when he would visit his grandmother, who prepared three meals a day at a school. He would stand in the kitchen and watch her cook, and she would make him help. One of his favorite memories was making what he called huge cinnamon rolls with his grandmother at Christmas time.
After high school Carroll attended Atchison Vo-Tech School for two years and has since cooked for hospitals, restaurants and private parties before coming to the University.
Carroll puts in 40 to 50 hours a week at GSP and said he preferred working at GSP to working at other
campus dining locations.
"Mrs. E's is just too busy — they herd em in and herd 'em out," Carroll said.
Carroll worked in Mrs. E's for seven years and transferred to GSP when he injured his knee and needed a slower-paced job in 2006.
Barb Wilson, manager of GSP Dining Center, said Carroll's interaction with the residents helped give the impression that the dining hall staff was similar to a second family and that they were always there to serve meals but also to talk with.
"Jim tries to be friends with everybody. He's very outgoing," said David Carroll, his father.
This is Carroll's third year at GSP, and Jenny Geide, Ellsworth senior, has worked with him all three years. She said she really enjoyed his sense of humor and encouraging attitude.
"You can tell he really loves his job," Geide said.
Carroll said he was motivated by the appreciation he received from the recipients of his food and
also by his strong Christian faith. He regularly attends St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Lawrence.
"When there are a lot of people waiting and I want to go faster but can't rush, I just remember that the Lord is on my side," Carroll said.
When Carroll is not standing at the induction station whipping up special dinners, he enjoys cooking for fun and loves to visit his parents. Although he is the only family member to have made a career out of cooking, all family members cook their own dishes for get-togethers, and his mother is quite protective of her kitchen. Carroll said he remembered a particular Mother's Day when his mother was sick and she finally allowed him into her kitchen and told him how to cook.
Cooking is Carroll's spice of life. He wipes the sweat rolling down his cheek with his sleeve as he uses the other arm to flip the custom omelette sizzling in the skillet.
"I enjoy cooking everything but liver," Carroll said.
Edited by Lauren Keith
Shaymarie Genosky/KANSAN
Jim Carroll prepares his station before the dinner rush at the GSP Dining Center. Carroll's passion is cooking, and he was first inspired to cook by his grandmother, who prepared three meals a day for a school. Carroll said he put in 40 to 50 hours at GSP, where he is an induction cook, which means he uses gas heated by magnets, and he cooks each resident's meal to order.