Aden Hernandez

I am currently a volunteer research assistant for the Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey, where I assist in the curation and cataloging of the Topper Site ( 38AL23 ), engage in debitage analysis, and assist the entry of catalog data via Excel worksheets.

While I am attending the University of South Carolina, as well as working in their Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey, I work at Lowe's Food in Lexington, South Carolina. As one of their cashiers, I make sure to greet everyone who comes through my line with a friendly smile, and I ask how their day was before I scan their rewards cards and work toward getting them checked out, which includes asking if they would like to make a donation to the local food bank or Miracle Hill. If they do not already have a rewards card, I also help get them set up with a rewards card, so that it will save them money in the future. Other than my typical duties at the register, I also bag for my fellow coworkers, get buggies in the parking lot, answer any questions customers have, or help customers find items whenever possible. Days when I am assigned to perform certain tasks could see me either emptying the trash and replacing the bags, cleaning the bathrooms, or restocking all the registers' bags and donations for the next day.

During the summers of 2023 and 2024, I worked as a cashier at Food Lion in Simpsonville, South Carolina. During those summers, I would make sure to greet every customer with a friendly smile before helping them with their groceries. I would scan and bag their groceries, sometimes bring their items to their car if they needed help, clean up and put items away during and after my shift back where they belong, help coworkers and customers find items, go outside and help bring in carts if we were running low, and on two separate occasions I would stay behind if a storm knocked out our power and we needed to close early so I could help put items away so they did not go bad, and would only leave once someone came in to replace me.

While I attended Hillcrest High School, I worked at a family-owned restaurant called Pete's of Simpsonville. During my time there, I would greet each and every customer with a friendly smile before taking their order. If I were scheduled in the morning, I would help get the restaurant ready by placing ketchup on tables, making sure the place was clean, or even doing rags so that it could help out the kitchen for the rest of the day. During my shifts, I would take a customer's order and bring their food out to them when it was ready, or bag it up for them if it was a to-go order. I would help with the bag drive-through and to-go orders occasionally, while also manning the drive-through if the person there needed to step away. I would take call-ins, do dishes on my assigned days, help close the restaurant by cleaning up and making sure everything was stocked, and sometimes I would run to Walmart to get bread, milk, or whatever we might be running low on so we could continue operating.