Many of us could thank a job in customer service for the obvious benefits: meeting friends, learning responsibility, and, of course, the money. However, I need to thank my job in customer service for molding me into an overall better person. I never knew how serving frozen yogurt for nearly 20 hours a week could help me overcome weaknesses that have hindered me for years.

For several years, I worked as a day camp counselor for elementary school kids. I learned the basics of having a job: punctuality, money management, responsibility, and commitment to work. Watching children, facilitating games, and doing crafts with them was a fun and easy way to make extra money during the summer and gave me some work experience that would help me in the future. After starting college, I established that it was time for a different job, so I decided to work in customer service at a frozen yogurt store.

And customer service was a different beast than babysitting first graders. But I am grateful for choosing to unleash this beast because I am reaping benefits I never expected. So here's to working a cash register, cleaning tables, fixing machines, and refilling toppings.

Thank you for teaching me to have a thick skin.

I have spent too many years living as someone who is extremely hypersensitive and breaks down when people yell at her. When I am behind a register, people yell at me and criticize me constantly. However, I have no option but to remain calm in this setting. In those moments, I come to terms with the idea that not everybody is going to like you and shower you in compliments. The world's most talented and successful people are constantly scrutinized and berated. But as they do, I have learned to remain strong and move past what a bunch of cranky strangers have to say.

Through such criticism, I have also gained confidence.

In social situations, I often come across as insecure and overly apologetic which has harmed me when dealing with friendships and relationships. Someone had even told me that until I "know my worth," I could potentially turn people off. It was easy to feel worthless when a customer attacked my math skills and intelligence when I miscalculated change. However, in the back of my mind, I know how I skipped an entire year of math and aced two years of calculus in high school. I can then laugh at that sour customer. By teaching myself to focus on my worth (which is worth that customers don't know), I come over as more confident and less fazed by these comments.

I never knew what would help me connect with people more, but I think it was a job in customer service.

Meeting new people is terribly difficult for me because I have trouble approaching and making conversation with strangers. I am working to become less closed off to others, but working as a cashier accelerated this process. When customers come in, the objective is to encourage them to come back. Even though many customers are strangers, I have learned to be friendly, make conversation, and try to cultivate a welcoming environment in the hopes that they come back. I have to push myself beyond my social "comfort zone" which will help me around my peers as well.

So to a minimum wage job that is often underestimated, here is one more giant thank you.

Thank you for making me stronger. Thank you for helping me overcome many of my struggles when dealing with other people. Thank you for teaching me to understand my own worth (because bitter customers certainly won't validate it). Thank you for helping me handle myself in stressful and uncomfortable situations. Thank you for helping me recognize that confidence comes from within. And, most importantly, thank you for weaning me from my comfort zone.