I got my first job at the beginning of my senior year of high school. It was just a part time job at a movie theater 25 minutes from my house, and after going application crazy the summer prior, this was the only job that had called me for an interview. Even so, I was ecstatic. I always wanted my first job to be at a movie theater because Josh Peck in Drake and Josh worked at one. He made it seem so fun and simple.
After a few shifts went by, it became more of a chore than something to be excited about, as I had been before my first shift. I was one of the only high schoolers in a workplace of all college students and some older. Rather than be my normal outgoing self, I became either intimidated by my coworkers, or just irritated with working to the point where I could not even enjoy myself in the slightest while at work. Our managers hardly talked to us, as usually you would just report to a supervisor, so I was too nervous to ever talk to the older adults at my job.
After a few months, I decided I wanted to quit. However, I did not know how. I was too scared to. My solution was to just request a bunch of days off until I was taken off the schedule. My plan worked. But I didn't take anything away from my first job besides a few paychecks that I accidentally spent solely on Chipotle. I knew I couldn't be so childish anymore. I was about to graduate high school, and essentially be pushed off a cliff into an abyss of adulthood.
The day after I graduated high school, I got my second job at a retail store. This was a much smaller environment than the movie theater was. I worked closely with at least one manager every shift, so I learned how to talk to adults in a more professional manner. My managers at the retail store highly stressed quality customer service and selling, selling, selling. I fell very quickly into my routine at the store, and I realized after a month what this job had done for me. I was talking to adults, whether a manager or a customer, as if I was an adult. This job made me into just that — an adult. This job I took simply because I needed money. Sure, I was 18 and about to start college, but high school did not teach me how to survive in adulthood. My part time job did.
I do not at all want to discredit my job at the movie theater; I learned how to efficiently clean a bathroom and serve people popcorn. I did not allow myself to take anything else from my first job. But my retail job taught me the ability to connect with people I otherwise wouldn't, to save money rather than spend it all on extra guacamole, and to be responsible.
As a busy student who only wants to spend any free time I have on Netflix, I have asked my self what the point of my part time job was. It was not an internship where I was gaining experience in a field I want to pursue for the rest of my life. But your first couple of jobs aren't going to be glamorous — I can't expect to have Oprah's job at 18. However, the skills I gain at these part time jobs are priceless in my development as an adult. I would not feel confident in myself and my ability to do anything I set my mind to if it were not for my simple part time job.
