Meet a Security Guard

From frantic women minutes away from giving birth to nervous job interviewees, Sharon Hall has seen it all in her eight years as a security guard for the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. "My job is to make visitors feel comfortable and at ease when they come to the hospital," says Sharon. This includes assisting medical staff when there is a disturbance on one of the floors, giving directions to people who've gotten lost in the hospital, facilitating fire drills, and dealing with anything that might come up in the hospital's busy lobbies.

"Somebody might run in and say, 'My wife is having a baby! Can you help us?'" says Sharon. "We get a little bit of everything--it just depends on the day."

Sharon says her favorite thing about her job is helping people. If she had any uncertainties about her effectiveness in that regard, they were answered recently, when she came back from a two-week long vacation to a hero's welcome.

"I had a young lady come in, and she said, 'I'm so happy to see you! No matter what, when I'm feeling down, I can come to the lobby and know you'll pick me up. I'm so glad you're back!'" recalls Sharon, smiling.