I’ve decided school is easier than retail.

I miss the easy summers. The summers of swimming, playing with friends, and going to camp. The summers where you didn’t have to work on holidays (like the Fourth - to all of you who get the day off, I envy you). The summers where you could actually take a break, decompress, and have fun.

Trust me, I know that those days are gone. The summers filled with internships and study abroad and nine to fives are taking over, and that is part of growing up. Most of our summers are probably tiring because, if you’re like me, you’re working around forty hours a week.

I work in retail, and I really enjoy it. My feet often hurt as it is hard to find cute shoes you can stand in for eight hours without looking like a dad who just got a pair of new jeans and some spiffy New Balance to go with them. When I get on my lunch break, I often refuse to get out of my chair not only because I feel the blood pooling in my feet, but because my knees also throb. My lower back kills me when I get home, so I feel like a middle-aged woman who is dying to find a heat pack to soothe her pains. On my day off, I sleep. Literally nothing else. I often want to hire a masseuse to massage my feet when I get home, but then remember I work retail and can’t afford it.

I’m 19, and I feel this way. Some of the women I work with are upwards of 60-years-old and have been working in retail for at least 20 years. Working alongside them, I don’t feel like I have a right to complain about the single month I’ve been working on my feet.

Despite the physical pain this job can sometimes cause my weak lower body, I enjoy it. I like conversing with customers who come in because it gives my days more meaning. I’m not just helping random strangers all day (even though that sometimes may be the case), but often I help women who are need of something specific. For an event, for a void in their closets. They allow me to learn about their lives, so I can better help them find what they need. I feel like I’m on a mission with my customers, and hopefully by the end of our time together we’ve accomplished at least one of their goals.

Occasionally, I rethink my decision to just want to work in retail. Many of the women who shop with me are businesswomen, very driven and successful in their own right. They ask about how old I am, what I’m up to, and all of those questions that you ask someone you don’t know very well. When I tell them that I go to Villanova, it is often followed by “oh that’s a good school!” and then a pause. It is a pause that questions why I am working in retail. It questions if I wasn’t qualified to get an internship. One customer said “so this is your last summer before the real world” and another said, “so after this you’ve really got to start working.”

This, to me, paints a picture that retail is not valuable enough work. Last year, I worked as a waitress. This year, I’m working as a saleswoman. Both of these positions have taught me invaluable lessons, and have given me the experience I believe I can apply to any job in the future. I’ve learned about teamwork, communication, customer service, follow through and multitasking. Working in a fast-paced environment has helped me understand the importance of delegation and mutual support while on the job. People will help you more often than not if you’ve taken the time to help them. If you consider their needs, they will consider yours. I’ve found this to be true for work, and for life.

I appreciate people who can make the best of their situations, no matter what it is. I think you need to embrace where you’re at when you’re there. You can’t change the now, so look at whatever summer job you have and think about what it teaches you. Does it bring you joy in a specific way? Does it improve skills you once thought were weak? Does it open your eyes to skills you didn’t even know you had? All of this information is invaluable. The sooner that you can learn it, the sooner you can be on a path to a career you truly love. If you hate your job, you can cross it off your list. If you love it, why do you love it? Pursue that.

So to everyone with a fancy internship, I’m proud of you. I hope you’re learning a lot, and that you’re happy doing what you’re doing. Maybe next summer, I’ll have an internship too! But for now, I have an eight-hour shift selling clothes. Within those eight hours, I’m going to try to learn as much as I can about myself, my coworkers, my customers, and the industry I’m working in. I hope we both make the best of our situations.