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Harry’s Bar has been a Syracuse University staple for many students for over three decades. Students, alumni and Syracuse locals come to Harry’s for game days or late nights Tuesday through Saturday.

While the majority of SU students think about Harry’s as a place to go out, SU students who double as bartenders there endure late hours, chaotic college-age customers and the responsibility to serve their peers.

Erien Uppal, a junior information management and technology and retail management dual major, has always wanted to experience bartending at some point in her life. She struggled to find a job on campus that paid more than minimum wage. But when a friend recommended she start working at Harry’s because of the flexible hours and tips, she thought it was a no-brainer to start.

“I personally work Fridays and I get there around 9:30 p.m., and the crowd begins to pick up around 10:30 to 11:30 p.m.,” Uppal said. “The nights are really long, I usually won’t go home until around 3 a.m.”

Uppal said the job can be stressful, as people often won’t stop ordering drinks until the bar closes at 2 a.m. She goes home tired and sweaty, with a wad of tips in her purse.

Despite the late nights, Uppal said her co-workers and the owner of Harry’s, John Shahin, make the job worth it.

“We all have a lot of fun together,” Uppal said. “We’re always making jokes in our group chat about the craziest things that happen at work, because the only people you can talk about it with are the people who experienced it with you.”

Uppal said Harry’s has given her the confidence and responsibility to be at ease in situations she can’t control. Her biggest advice for people looking to bartend on their college campus is to not take things personally.

“Sometimes you’re going to see things and hear things that will make you uncomfortable,” Uppal said. “When you mix a lot of college students and alcohol, people don’t always say the nicest things.”

Just like Uppal, Isabella Kopilak, a junior geography and economics dual major, started working at Harry’s because of a friend’s recommendation.

Kopilak said she began the second semester of her sophomore year as a “table girl.” She would collect and organize everyone’s cover to enter the bar, stamp people’s hands and keep track of how many people entered.

This fall, Kopilak started working as a bartender, which she said has been a more enjoyable role for her.

“It’s crazy how fast time goes bartending. I literally call it ‘bartending blackout’ because I’ll blink and three hours have gone by,” Kopilak said. “You just don’t have time to think or do anything other than move from one person to the next, until the last call, which is at 1:50 a.m.”

Kopilak loves seeing her friends when she is working because it is like experiencing a night out from a different perspective, she said.

“It obviously doesn’t feel like you are going out, but it still feels like you are experiencing something with them,” Kopilak said. “You can’t really experience that at any other job.”

Similarly to Uppal, Kopilak feels like Harry’s has given her the confidence to handle stressful situations. She said that being a bartender has made her feel like a more prepared adult who can juggle multiple tasks at once.

Emma Likly, a graduate student at SU pursuing a master’s in the marketing program in Whitman, has the most experience working at Harry’s out of the three SU students, and she became the manager in the spring of 2020.

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A photo posted by harrysbar_su

During her time as an undergraduate student, Likly was on the SU women’s field hockey team for two years. She missed having something to do each night, and when her teammate recommended she start working at Harry’s, she thought she would give it a try.

Likly said that she loves “being the leading woman of the bar.” She has to figure out everyone’s schedules, coverage for shifts and ultimately make sure everything is running smoothly.

Likly said the busiest nights are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Likly works Thursdays and Saturdays and collects herself before the night gets going an hour into the shift.

Game days are the shifts where Likly works the longest hours and sees the most SU students and alumni. Alumni will come into Harry’s after 20 years to see the owner and if anything has changed, she said.

Working at Harry’s has shaped Likly’s experience at SU, she said. She has learned how to manage a group of people and balance friendships and employee relationships.

“There’s the ‘put your head down and do the hard work’ grittiness of Harry’s, which I was used to being an athlete,” Likly said. “But Harry’s has also taught me to find confidence within myself.”

Likly said that it can be hard serving customers who are usually around her age. She’s had to learn how to handle uncomfortable situations and gain respect as the manager.

“As a bartender at a college campus you need to remember that you have that power to end someone’s time at the bar for the night,” Likly said. “You kind of have to walk with confidence in order to gain that respect.”

Published on March 30, 2022 at 9:31 pm