That’s what Regina Rosado, an employee of the Franklin Dining Commons at the University of Massachusetts, believes.

And that’s what she tries to do – each night she works.

“Everyone I see, I just want to put a smile on their face – just make them happy,” said Rosado. “It makes me feel good to see other people happy.”

In Rosado’s efforts to do that, she’s developed a catchphrase that has become a fan favorite by students and has garnered a bit of attention recently: “Have a beautiful evening” – a statement that she recites each night she’s cashiering at the facility. The phrase has become so popular by some, that it’s spawned a Facebook fan page, which has garnered over 1,100 fans in just the two weeks since its creation.

Rosado – a 25-year-old who lives in Ware with her mother, stepfather, nephew and nieces – said she doesn’t remember how exactly she came up with her noteworthy phrase, but noted that she says it because she wants all of the patrons of Franklin to have the best evening that they can.

“I actually don’t know how I came up with it,” she said. “I just want[ed] to wish everybody … a really good evening. And I was like, OK, beautiful is the best and I want them to have the best evening.”

And she wants to make those she sees each night smile, too.

“I actually want to put a smile on someone’s face,” said Rosado, who’s worked at Franklin for about three-and-a-half years. “And if I put a smile on at least one person’s face, then it makes my whole night better.”

Rosado, who’s lived in Western Massachusetts for most of her life, said she could always remember being happy.

“I basically grew up as this happy girl – always happy,” she said.
And even when times weren’t always easy for Rosado – who said she was bullied during some of her school years – she maintained a smile on her face and managed to get through them.

“There was [a time] it was hard, but I just smiled it through,” she said.

Rosado wants to help students who might have had a rough day or might be going through hardships to smile, too.

“If I can brighten up someone’s night, then they’re having a good night and that makes me feel good in the long-run, to know that I had some kind of influence on that,” she said.

Rosado thinks she’s accomplished that goal. She said that – even before the Facebook page dedicated to her was created – students would come up to her and tell her that she made their day better.

“That makes me feel good,” Rosado said.

And, since the creation of the page, several current and former members of the UMass community have given her positive feedback – both online and in person. Comments on the page range from praises of Rosado’s attitude to a suggestion that she should run for president.

Rosado said that she was both thrilled and surprised when she stumbled across the page.

“I’m actually excited,” she said of the page. “I’m really grateful [that] the students made this page.”

Rosado’s co-workers are enthused about the page as well.

Marc Morrisette, the manager of the Franklin Dining Commons, said that most of his employee’s have been supportive and praiseworthy of the page and Rosado.

“I think it’s great that people enjoy her,” Morisette said. “I think it’s great that people like to hear from her.”

Morrisette, who’s been managing Franklin for about four years and hired Rosado, said Rosado was assigned to do cashiering about a year ago, due to her good people skills.

“She’s really good at interacting with the customers,” said Morrisette, who noted that Rosado is one of the best in her post. “I feel that I can utilize her skills the best there.”

Additionally, several students have expressed their enthusiasm with the creation of the page, too.

“Regina’s my favorite person at Franklin,” Douglas Smith, one of the first people to become a fan of the Facebook page, wrote in an email to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. “It amazes me how much effort she puts into just telling people to ‘have a beautiful evening’ and trying to make them smile.

“She really does make a lot of people happy, and I think she should be recognized for what she does,” Smith added.

Rosado, however, said that she just wants to “spread the joy.”

William Perkins can be reached at [email protected].