As a 19-year-old, soon to be sophomore in college, I should be moving on to bigger and better jobs like working as a lab technician or gaining some experience in my relative future job field (medicine for those who want to know); however, for those who know me, I still work at my minimum wage job that I've had since I was 16 and in high school. I currently work as a customer service associate for my local Walgreens and it's both a blessing and a curse. Working for a retail store is absolute hell and I'm sure everyone who works retail would whole-heartedly agree with me.
After recently buying my new car and having used my credit cards to help with bills and such, I opted work a complete full time shift (40 hours, five days a week) during the summer to make money and to pay my bills. Since school starts in the fall and I honestly haven't really thought about what I'm going to do for work or money. Many people ask if I'm going to get a job on campus or look for something new or even just quit and focus on school. My answer: nope.
Working retail is an awful experience but is something everyone should go through at least once. You are underpaid, do a ton more work than you actually are paid to do and probably work a ton more hours than you want to or even need to. But, it's a truly memorable experience; maybe not a good one but definitely memorable. Even though it's terrible and I wish I could leave my job, the one thing it does provide is stability. I got pretty lucky that my manager is a decent human being and lets me make my own schedule to whatever suits my needs at the time. I've been there for over three years, so I have some type of seniority, Even though I still get underpaid significantly for the work that I do but currently, at this point in time, it wouldn't make financial sense for me to leave my job.
Lastly, I made amazing friends that I hope to carry with me for the rest of my professional and personal life. I currently work with my best friend and have made several extremely close friends at work that are basically the only reason I stay where I am and even though retail is a terrible job environment, it's what I have right now. I'm content in my current situation and if something comes along that is better and can suit my needs better than I'll take but until something like that comes along, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
