By Cynthia Dorantes

Custodial workers are a large part of everyday life and most of the time, they are underappreciated and sometimes not even acknowledged. Guillermina Dorantes, one of many day shift custodial workers, has been a part of the UCSC custodial staff for 13 years now. She is in charge of keeping the Dolores Huerta building clean in Oakes College. Her daily tasks include vacuuming the hallways, dusting the furniture in lounges, cleaning windows, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping and mopping, among many other tasks.

Just like the many other custodial workers, she puts an enormous amount of dedication into her work and deserves as much respect as any other regular person. Just like everyone else, Guillermina has a family, friends, is a co-worker and lives a regular life. She is a mother. She is my mother, and she has helped me through many events, including becoming a college student here at UCSC.