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Plenty of students can tell you about how visiting the Koelbel Building, with its magnificent views of the Flatirons, helped them decide Leeds was the place for them.听

Joe Constancia remembers his first time in the building, as well. But it wasn鈥檛 to look out the windows鈥攊t was to empty the recycling bins.听

Joe called his time working with Facilities Management 鈥渢he greatest job I鈥檝e ever had in my life鈥濃�攑artly because it was a break from his work as a plumber and farmer, but also because it set him up for further professional opportunities and, eventually, coming to Leeds as a full-time student.听

Leeds 鈥榩ut the clothes on my back鈥�

Joe emptied the bins at half the buildings on campus, including the Administrative and Research Center, where his big personality and love of talking to people played a role in getting work as a receptionist, eventually rising to work in talent acquisition and leave. On his last day of emptying bins at Koelbel, the team in Leeds鈥� dean鈥檚 suite surprised him with a cake and 鈥渢he nicest card I ever received, which had $64 and a whole bunch of kind words in it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 went to every Salvation Army and Goodwill in the surrounding counties, and with that $64 I got two weeks鈥� worth of professional clothing for my new job. Leeds literally put the clothes on my back.鈥澨�

While he enjoyed his responsibilities at work, being in a professional setting gave him a taste for bigger possibilities, which is what led him back to Leeds.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have a degree, and there were certain jobs I wanted that required one,鈥� Joe said. 鈥淢y wife and I talked about it and decided it was time to rip the bandage off and knock it out.鈥澨�

Since then, it鈥檚 been an incredible ride. He was the lone Leeds student on the team that won the New Venture Challenge鈥檚 Cross-Campus Collaboration event in the spring, helping the engineers on the team refine their concept for a self-stopping braking system for four-wheeled walkers.听

鈥淓ngineers definitely have their own lens of looking at the world,鈥� Joe said. 鈥淔or me, it was an opportunity to work with people who are incredibly smart and detail oriented, and be able to help them not let perfect get in the way of good enough. They鈥檙e smart, they have all the talent in the world, but are so hard on themselves. Instilling a little confidence was something my business education helped me do.鈥� 听

Joe鈥檚 education also has helped him forge incredible friendships with students, who like to hear about 鈥渢he old guy鈥� in class and his perspectives on life and business.听

鈥淲hen I was their age, I had a lot of people telling me what to do鈥攂ut not a lot of people encouraging me to do what I wanted,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 try to offer that perspective to help them navigate their way through life.

鈥淪trategy and entrepreneurship, to me, is about freedom鈥攎y schedule, my colleagues, my ways of working,鈥� Joe said. 鈥淚 never had that before I came here. Before they let me answer a phone, I was content to work until the day I died. Now, I want to do something meaningful with my work, and retire one day. Leeds and CU have taken great care of me.鈥澨�

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