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Eddie Maya, one
could say, is "big man on campus" at Bethel College.
"I'm the biggest Mexican on campus," he grins, without a trace
of a Latino accent. That's because, despite his father's
fluency and his great grandmother's Mexican birth, he never
learned the language outside the restaurants in which he has
worked since he was 14.
"I know kitchen Spanish," he continues. "In Colorado, a lot of
immigrants work in the kitchens, so I know how to get around a
kitchen in Spanish and that's it."
The Colorado-raised chef is big man on the Bethel campus for
more reasons than his size, however. For the past nine months,
he culinary ability has tantalized the taste-buds of locals at
meetings and banquets catered by the school's new director of
food services. They've noted as well the personal attention he
gives to making sure everything is "just right." And, perhaps
more to the point, he has brought a new level of nutrition and
satisfaction to some 350 students who eat their meals at the
campus dining hall. The way to students' minds, one might say
- their hours filled with studies, sports, and music - is
through their bellies. Eddie's job, well done, takes a load
off parents' minds.
At 35 years old, Eddie can honestly say he has 21 years of
cooking experience.
"I started cooking in restaurants when I was 14 and that's all
I've ever done," he says. "I never went to a culinary
institute or had any type of formal training. I've never done
anything else."
Other friends were running paper routes when a friend's father
gave Eddie a job washing dishes in his restaurant. Within six
months, Eddie was learning to cook from the finest - "an old
Italian lady from the old country." No prepackaged noodles,
Eddie was soon making homemade pastas and raviolis as well as
sauces.
His penchant for Italian cooking was later joined by an
authentic Mexican flair that is his specialty. His experience
with ethnic dishes comes in handy, in fact, when the Bethel
kitchen hosts "Chinese night", "Mexican night" and other
flavorful, fun-themed suppers.
Eddie was 25 years old when he met Alicia Crist, a Martin,
Tennessee, girl who, fresh from high school, was visiting her
father in Denver.
Eddie and Alicia Maya
The couple dated for a year before
marrying in 1996. The following year, they moved to Martin in
order for Alicia to continue her education while Eddie gained
employment in the kitchen of the University of Tennessee at
Martin.
Eddie explains Alicia's step-father, Dr. Henry Parker, is a
professor of philosophy and race and ethics at the University
where Alicia obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees in
social work. He has glowing words for his in-laws, Parker and
Alicia's mom, Marilyn Crist, who Eddie says made his
transition to living in Tennessee comfortable.
It was during the seven years he worked at UTM that he learned
high volume, cafeteria style cooking. On his first day at work
, he says, "when they said, 'You're going to feed 1300 kids
tonight,' I said, 'Wow, how do we do that?' But they showed
me; I learned under some really great people down there.
That's how I learned about institutional cooking and I found
out I was pretty good at it."
After seven years of feeding between 1100 and 1400 students
daily at UTM, Eddie found more than just numbers were
different at Bethel, where 350 students on average eat at the
cafeteria.
"That's what I like about Bethel," says Eddie. "I love Martin,
but here you get to know the students; you know their names,
their likes and dislikes. It works a lot better that way; it's
a lot more close-knit atmosphere. And we work hard to take
care of the kids here."
Since Eddie came on board June 1 last year, he says, lots of
changes have been made.
"I try to give the students what they want but at the same
time I need to keep a good balance," he says, noting student
choices would often be cheeseburgers, fries, and pizza if it
were offered daily. He gives those choices once or twice a
week, filling other days most often with staples also enjoyed
by students such as baked chicken, meatloaf, lasagna,
spaghetti, and chicken sandwiches, as well as nights when
specialty foods like Chinese and Mexican dishes are offered.
"They seem to be pretty happy with the changes," says Eddie,
who notes he and his staff are doing a lot more cooking than
the pre-cooked items students were eating prior to his
arrival.
The salad bar offers two deli-meats every day as well as
peanut butter and jelly, so students can make PBJs or sub
sandwiches if they don't like what's on the line.
Also offered is a baked potato bar and fresh soups when
weather permits, Eddie says: "When it's under 30 degrees they
really go after the soups and chilis."
The Turner ice cream box is filled with eight different
flavors of ice cream that go fast during hot weather.
"They seem to really enjoy that," he muses, "That's what makes
my day fulfilled; I like seeing the students enjoy what
they're eating."
He plans in the next school year to begin offering more
variety.
"My goal is to keep everybody happy at a manageable food cost,
as far as keeping my budget in good standing," he says.
He has also increased catering 70 to 80 percent in just nine
months, serving lunch for various civic organizations during
monthly meetings held in the Oasis or Bryson rooms of the
student center.
He has also catered evening events for various organizations
as well as private parties and family gatherings and have
recently begun picking up caterings for churches.
Eddie is also director of the Starbucks/Daily Grind lounge
that is open to the public and will soon open Jake's Place
pizzeria, both facilities located within the student center.
"I'm extremely happy here at Bethel College and I hope to
retire from Bethel College," he says. "The women and men that
work for me, along with the students... I couldn't ask for a
better crew to work with daily. Everybody is such a great joy
to be around... I just want to thank President (Bob) Prosser
and Dean (James) Stewart for giving me the opportunity to be
here and show them what I can do."
Eddie, in fact, is full of praise not only for his co-workers,
Bethel students and the administration of the college, he also
has warm words for his wife.
"I'd like to thank my wonderful wife for being there when I
need her most," he says. He also sings the praises of his
in-laws for the great support they have provided his family.
Nathan Maya is "5 going on 25."
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Eddie and Alicia know only too well the
unique trials encountered by parents who weather tragedy in
their family. The parents of two children: Nathan, who Eddie
says is "five, going on 25", and Brianna, at seven-years-old a
second grader at McKenzie Elementary School.
"She has a whole story herself," says Eddie, showing off
pictures on his wall that depict two altogether beautiful
children, though Brianna can be noted to hold her hand in
front of her right eye to ward off the flash.
She travels to Galveston, Texas, every six or seven weeks for
checkups on the eye, which continues to undergo changes
consequent to an illness she contracted when she was three
years old.
It could have been much worse.
It was in early December 2000 that events began to unfold that
would dominate the Mayas' lives. Eddie was employed at UTM and
Alicia at the Baptist Hospital in Union City.
Brianna had developed a cough that was diagnosed as
bronchitis. Like a million other children, she was prescribed
erythromycin and was also taking Motrin, another commonly used
drug.
For Brianna, however, rather than relief, the medicine
provoked a reaction that brought misery as her skin began to
blister as if burned and peel off in sheets. The blisters
spread over Brianna's entire body, affecting her eyes and
lungs as well.
Kept at a local hospital less than 24 hours, then rushed by
ambulance to Memphis, even Lebonheur's expertise was not
enough to offer hope for Brianna. Less than 24 hours after she
arrived in Memphis she was jetted to Texas in what Eddie calls
an "angel Shriners jet" to the Shriners burn center in
Galveston.
Brianna skin healed remarkably
well. Her vision is the only problem remaining from her ordeal
with TEN at the age of three.
A victim of called toxic epidermal necrolysis, or TEN,
Brianna's condition was agonizingly similar to that of a burn
patient. She had lost 100 percent of her outer skin layer, or
epidermis, leaving the shiny, red dermis unprotected against
injury and infection.
TEN is a life-threatening disorder that affects one in a
million people worldwide, most often adults. While it can be
caused by a drug reaction or another disease, about a third of
all cases are a result of unknown causes.
The loss of the outer layer of skin leaves raw, scalded
looking areas from which fluids and salts ooze, as in burns.
Coupled with complications like blood poisoning, gastric
hemorrhage, low white blood cell counts, pneumonia, fluid
and/or electrolyte imbalance, and renal (kidney)
insufficiency, the mortality rate approaches 40 percent.
At the Shriners Hospital in Galveston, according to their Web
site, "surgeons immediately replaced rejected pig skin grafts,
done in Memphis, with human cadaver skin, which has a better
take rate. Brianna remained in critical condition for the next
few days. While the team of experts labored to save Brianna's
life, her mom and dad stayed by her side."
During her recovery, although Brianna was unresponsive, Eddie
and Alicia sang her favorite songs and read her favorite
stories to her. Then one morning, according to the site,
Brianna spoke from her crib: "Mama, is that you standing by my
bed?"
"It was the first time she had spoken since she got so sick,
and it was then that Alicia realized Brianna was going to
live," reads the story.
Amazingly, the Mayas were able to return to Tennessee, where
little Nathan waited, in time for Christmas.
And, Eddie relates with overwhelming thanksgiving, "We haven't
had to pay one cent for her care. The Shriners have picked up
100 percent of the bills; my guess is well over $750,000."
He says Brianna has continued to improve with the exception of
her vision, although doctors are keeping a close watch on
developments.
"Life has dealt her a bad deck, but she's such a fighter,"
Eddie says tenderly. "And I have faith. I just know one day
she'll be able to see enough to have a good life.
"The Shriners gave Brianna life. And I owe my life to the
Shriners, I really do."
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