Suffering from a headache and need a Tylenol tablet? Or perhaps it is a roll of Strawberry Mentos that you crave? In either situation, chances are you will visit Amrish Bhuva at the Quick Stop.
However, long before Amrish ever sold his first package of Twizzlers, he was in India. It was not until 1997 that he came to the United States. He moved to Connecticut in 1998 and got a job with a nutrition company. He was selling over the counter medication but ached for a job that would allow him to interact with people on a more regular basis; this is what attracted him to Quinnipiac.
Although Amrish started his work at the bookstore, he moved after a year. “I always try to help students out if they are short fifty cents or so and want a candy bar or newspaper,” he said.
Amrish loves his current job. “I love it here,” he said. “I am really enjoying getting more knowledge through the people I am meeting.”
He has no plans of leaving Quinnipiac. He loves it too much. He said that he is excited to have the opportunity to get to know the “500 or so” students that he serves on an average day in the eight to nine hours that he works.
The most rewarding part of the job for the Cheshire resident is “meeting people, talking to people, and learning new things,” Amrish explained. “These people are so friendly and cooperative here,” he said with a smile.
However, Amrish does have a life outside of the Student Center rotunda.
On weekends, he enjoys visiting his son, Vinit, on the main University of Connecticut campus at Storrs. He also loves staying home and watching Indian movies, grocery shopping and cleaning. His wife, Ragini, who provides much happiness to his life, works at Stop and Shop in Cheshire.
Amrish came to the United States for multiple reasons, principally for his son. “My son is very brilliant, ” he said. “I wanted to provide him with as many opportunities as I could.”
He believes that through the pharmacy program at UCONN, with which he is currently active, his son will succeed.
However, Amrish could not say enough about Quinnipiac. “Quinnipiac is an excellent environment,” he said. “The faculty and staff are very cooperative.”
He loves Quinnipiac and wants to stay at this institution of higher learning for the foreseeable future. “I am enjoying this time of my life,” he said.
Over the past two years of interacting regularly with the student body at Quinnipiac, Amrish has observed several things about the students. He said it is consistent with what he said during the eight years of living in this country.
He said he realizes how difficult it is to spend so much money on one’s education.
He asks students to “concentrate more on their studiesand to try to go many miles. Be a good future of this country, try hard. This is one of the more beautiful and prosperous countries ever. I wish all the students to be prosperous and to do well in life.”
