Written by Arianna Hurst
Every school is filled with characters, personalities that are unmistakable. These people — the students, employees, and faculty — add life to a place, giving it color and keeping it interesting.Phillip Bright, a charming Aramark employee, is one of these characters around campus. His trademark cheerfulness sets him apart, and he is known for saluting his customers with the phrase “have a good one” in his Southern accent as they check out.Aramark hired Bright on Sept. 9, 2009, yet he already displays a genuine rapport with each of his customers. In fact, by his second week on the job Bright had already earned the name “the smiling man” around campus.An Arkansas native, Bright is a graduate of Arkansas State University at Beebe with an associate’s degree in both business and criminal justice. Bright said he welcomed a job from Aramark after working at Maytag, an appliance company, for 28 years.Bright said one of his most gratifying memories of working at Harding happened earlier this semester while dressing sandwiches for his customers after hours. Bright said he thought he was merely being polite. However, the next day, the same two customers delivered a note of appreciation and a gift card to an eatery.”I really appreciate that card. It just tickled me! I wasn’t expecting anything—nothing,” Bright said.Students said they enjoy interacting with Bright because of his sincerity and affable nature. “When I get the opportunity to talk to him, I am amazed at how much of God’s light I see shining through him! He always makes my day a little brighter,” sophomore Mallori Jones said.Junior Marshall Hughes said one of his favorite things about Bright is his genuine desire to make students happy.”He is always going out of his way to make people’s day better; he is a genuinely good person,” Hughes said.How does Bright stay so upbeat when students are clamoring to make their purchases and are pressed for time to get to their next classes?”When you’re happy it makes time go by faster, and if I can put a smile on the customer’s face, I’ve made my day,” Bright said.When he is not working, Bright said he enjoys tending to and mowing his yard, working on model trains or hunting and fishing.Although he has not visited the role recently, he said he also liked playing Santa for his grandsons when he had a white beard and padded suit.While Bright has been offered other jobs, he said he enjoys his job too much to leave.”I’ve been offered other jobs, but like I told my wife, money’s not everything. Yeah, I’d like to make more money than what I’m making right now, but I enjoy my job and that means a lot,” Bright said. “If I can brighten one student’s day, it makes me feel good.”
