You know what they say about men and their sports right? Well for Envision Unlimited Halas Day Training Center member Michael J., he hit the jackpot once he learned that he attained a job at Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. Michael is a diehard sports fan and loves all the Chicago teams, but when it comes to baseball, nothing beats the Sox! “I always go to the community outings during baseball season when Envision has reserved seats for the White Sox games and I never knew that one day I would be able to say that I work there. When I found out they were hiring, I really wanted to go for the job because they are my favorite team.”
So, on July 6, 2019, Michael walked into the Guaranteed Rate Field not only as a fan but now as an employee as part of the maintenance staff. “The best thing about my job was not only that my boss treated me really nice and helped me out whenever I needed it, but everyone in the whole park was nice!
"My job was to work with a team of other people making sure that the whole stadium was clean. So that meant cleaning the entire stadium, in the stands and where all the different food vendors worked. It was a lot of work because that stadium is huge but I didn’t care because I love the Sox and I wanted it to look nice when they played at home.” Michael was able to get to and from work using public transportation and PACE paratransit, and his schedule consisted of working on days that the White Sox played at home.“My schedule usually looked like between Mondays and Saturdays from 3 pm-12 am or 9 pm-6 am and 4 pm-9 pm on Sundays.” He liked that his schedule was so flexible and the days he worked were spread apart since the Sox played elsewhere. That way, he had the free time on his off days to still attend Halas DT Center to visit with friends and participate in activities and community outings.
Now that baseball season has ended, Michael is no longer working there but he says that his boss let him know that he definitely has his position waiting on him for next season. While he was still working there, he actively was on the hunt for another job during the offseason and he recently landed employment at Soldier Field Stadium where the Chicago Bears play. Only 2 days after baseball season ended, Michael started at Aramark as a Warehouse Worker at Soldier Field. He says his next goal is to try to land a job with the United Center so that he can work where the Bulls and Blackhawks play. “That way all year round I can do work that I enjoy at all the places where all of my home teams play, and nothing can get any better than that.