Starting Out: Stephanie Hill ’10

Yard hand at Ellice Recycle Ltd., a recycling company in Victoria, British Columbia. Princeton major: politics, with a certificate in environmental studies. 

What she does: During her eight-hour shifts, Hill directs customers to the correct bins to dump their waste, helps them unload, takes payment, and cleans up if necessary. “The worst [to clean up] is packing peanuts — you are chasing them all around,” says Hill, who found out about the company online and showed up at the site with her résumé.

What she likes: “The job is something that matters. Even though it isn’t very ­prestigious, it’s diverting waste from landfills and preparing materials for reuse,” says Hill, who hopes to study waste-management and environmental legislation in graduate school. She sought the job with Ellice because she wants to work in the waste-management ­industry and thinks that the firsthand experience will help her in her graduate studies. 

Challenges: The work is physically demanding. “If you are outside and it’s cold and you are lifting heavy things ... you can get pretty tired,” says Hill. She also can feel “retail exhaustion” from dealing with customers all day.