06/06/2025
Across the Channel with Tads Ciecierski-Holmes
Marcin, who has worked at 鶹Ӿfor almost a decade, seems to be a permanent fixture of the College. Officially, Marcin is a Food Services Assistant, working within the Food Services team. But go for lunch and he’s at the till; pass the Dining Room and he’s setting up chairs; visit the Porters’ Lodge and there’s Marcin, picking up a shift as a relief Porter.
“I don’t stay here for free!” Marcin insists, laughing. “They pay me!”
Although Marcin says he loves his full-time role in Food Services, and the rest of the team, working as a relief Porter is one of his particular joys. “I like to help people, and I love chatting with the students, and helping them when they need it. I feel like that karma will come back.”
Marcin grew up in Poland in the town of Trzcianka, during the Soviet-installed Communist regime. He credits his early life in Poland, and the circumstances of his childhood, with shaping not only his attitude to work but also his attitude to others.
“When you lived in the Communist era, everything was rationed. There was only chocolate for Christmas, and maybe an orange. My grandfather had a nice house in Krakow but after the war the Communists took it from him, and he never got it back. But he always reminded me to be proud of myself, because no one is better than anyone else. And it doesn’t matter what kind of job you have, what family you have, who you are – we’re all important.”
After two years of service in the Polish army as a Corporal, Marcin worked in engineering and construction, undertaking training to work with specialised machines. He decided to move to England – and had friends living in Cambridge – and continued to work in construction until, one day, a boss came into the office and told off the team for laughing.
Marcin says this was the moment when he changed paths, when enjoying a job became something that was critiqued and not celebrated.
“I had some family members pass away last year, and it’s a lesson that life is too short. Be nice and enjoy life, that’s what I believe. I want to know that I enjoyed my life.”
With this philosophy in hand, Marcin left construction and started working for an agency, taking up jobs including as night porter in a Holiday Inn, before working in Magdalene and Homerton Colleges as a kitchen porter. He moved to 鶹Ӿafter his former manager at Magdalene, who was then working as the Domestic Bursar at Wolfson, encouraged him to come. And here Marcin has stayed.
“This is the best College where I’ve worked – I’m not joking! 鶹Ӿis like a magnet for original people, and here is a friendly place, everyone is so friendly. And they take care of staff here. I can feel that the Bursar and Domestic Bursar really think of us, always stopping to chat, and I’ve never had a manager like Charles (Correa – Hospitality Manager) in my life. He gives me freedom, and he knows when the job is done. He’s a really good person.”
It's hard to believe that Marcin has free time, but when he does, he says he loves a good book – history is his favourite – going to the gym, and travel. He and his partner go to a different country every year, with Thailand potentially on the cards for next year. “Although,” he says, “we’re saving up for a cruise to Hawaii.”
But the cruise, and the books, and the gym is for another day. Because right now, after chatting in the Club Room, and with everyone stopping to say hello and comment on the startling fact of his sitting down, Marcin has to run.
“I’m quite busy!” He says, laughing, as he heads off to do another job.
