What do you do in your down time?

Just work. I bartend.

Where?

At Curves.

That’s awesome. What do you have to wear?

A bathing suit.

Really? Did you have to wear a bathing suit for your job interview?

No. It’s the perfect college job, I work like two nights a week.

That’s genius. Are you friends with the dancers?

Most of them. I’ve been there for eight-and-a-half years, and I’ve never had a problem.

Do you switch up which bathing suit you wear?

Yeah, I have a bunch of them.

Do you wear jewelry with them?

Yeah, sometimes.

Do you wear high heels?

No, just flip-flops.

Had you been to a strip club prior to working at one?

Nope, never.

Really? I’ve been. They’re all right — nice girls, good music. So you’re a bartender in a bathing suit by night, what do you do by day?

I work at a lab on campus. An ant lab.

Doing what?

Taking care of ants and cockroaches. I give them food and water. They’re being used for research, but I don’t have anything to do with the research. I just give them everything they need.

What do they eat?

The ants eat the cockroaches. So we raise the cockroaches, freeze them and chop them, and then feed them to the ants so they get their protein.

Do you cut them up?

Not right away. It’s not like gooey or gross or anything.

Do you feel bad for the cockroaches?

No. Does anyone want to save cockroaches?

—Claire Engelken