Coolest Jobs in Town: Victoria Markowski

Victoria Markowski's nametag at Cranford Little Scoops doesn't just tell customers her name. It also states her favorite ice cream flavor: Cotton candy. 

Children walking into this small ice cream parlor on North Union Avenue are sometimes perplexed when faced with the choice of 14 different ice cream flavors, she said – so the opinions of those standing behind the counter are sought out.

"They always ask what our favorite ice cream is," Markowski said. Having the flavor on their nametags makes it easy to tell, she added. 

Cotton candy is a childhood favorite that Markowski still loves. When she was much younger, getting cotton candy ice cream with rainbow sprinkles was her way of cooling off after a day in the sun at the beach, during family vacations by the shore in Virginia.

Ice cream is also still her way of cooling down. This 17-year-old Westfield High School graduate, who has worked at the parlor part-time as a party coordinator for two months, said she loves walking into Little Scoops for work on a sizzling hot afternoon.

"On a hot summer day, it's nice to walk into an ice cream shop. Maybe it's just a mental thing, but I cool off down here," she said. Little Scoops also offers the classic 1950s ice cream parlor feel, complete with black-and-white tiled floors and shiny red stools. The establishment boasts 25 different toppings, from gummy worms to graham crackers.

Markowski also loves spending time with the parlor's most frequent customers – the kids. As a party coordinator, she directs birthday parties of around 20-25 children. It never gets boring, she said.

"You get to entertain young kids instead of trying to entertain yourself," she said. She added that it's also an excuse to have fun and be a kid again. "It's fun to dance around all day, play games."

Markowski will be leaving the shop soon to go to Keystone College in Pennsylvania, but she isn't leaving behind what she learned at Little Scoops. She plans on majoring in Early Childhood Education, and after graduating, she hopes to do something very similar – she wants to open an independent dessert establishment that also holds sessions geared toward children.

"I want to open a pastry shop, and have Mommy-and-Me classes on the weekends," she said.