Trying to juggle getting a degree, working full-time, and finding a husband was CRAZY. I have no idea how I pulled it all off. Mostly it was just a ludicrous amount of multi-tasking, which felt a lot like walking a tight-rope over a den of very hungry carnivores.
I'm just sitting here at the Quickstop, twiddling my thumbs. I jump up sometimes to help a customer, or change the syrup in the pop machine, or cook food. Mostly, though, I read or write letters to missionaries.
I really tried to be responsible in my jobs, but it was hard! Things went wrong sometimes, and I didn't always know why. At the Quickstop, for example, I was scheduled for the opening shifts. My job was to unlock the store and then set up the cash register and things. There was something wrong with the safe where the tills were held. Every time I tried to open it, it wouldn't work. I called my boss several days in a row, asking for help. I wrote the combination down. I memorized it. I practiced whenever there were no costumers. Without fail, I could open the safe when my boss was standing behind me, but I could NOT get the %$#@ thing open when I was on my own in the morning. It made her so ANGRY to have to come downstairs from her office to open the safe for me. I didn't blame her, but what could I do? I had no explanation for why this was happening. Then one day I caught her in an especially bad mood. In a fit of rage, she grabbed me by the arms and shook me until the coins in the till I was holding rattled. A few minutes later, she called me upstairs to her office and sweetly offered me a $50 college sweatshirt in exchange for my silence about the episode. I didn't like accepting the bribe, but I wasn't planning on telling on her anyway. I mean, I was 20 years old. It's not like a little shaking was going to scar me, and I highly doubted she would ever snap like that again. Still, what a weird memory.
My jobs were often tedious or stressful, but what choice did I have? Dad didn't have any money, and I was determined to get an education. My mom had a Master's degree when she was alive, and my dad had been the first person in his family line to get a Bachelor's, so I always saw college as sort of a given.
Here's a funny page from my finance log at the time. I was so poor, I counted literally EVERY penny, even expenditures that were less than a dollar. Let's face it- when it came to food, my expenditures were pretty much ALWAYS less than a dollar. I was surviving on the meals I got from dinner dates.
The Quickstop:
Later, I worked at Lee's Grocery where I was quickly promoted from cashier to service desk clerk. The other service girls and I had so much fun running the front of the store together.
I am making a list of all the job experience I have had for future reference, and let me tell you, I've come a long way. 7 jobs since I graduated! To think that the girl who started out at McDonald's is now in a supervisory position, making money orders, wiring thousands of dollars to places like the Philippines and Cambodia... I'm rather proud of myself. Still, the most important position I'll ever have (and the one I think I'll enjoy the most) is being a wife and a mother.
Although I had worked in many different places, I didn't seem to be getting any closer to finding the niche were I belonged. I was rapidly running out of general courses, and it was time to get serious about my major. What did I want to do with my life? I had no idea. Then one day, I looked into becoming a substitute teacher, like Nicky had done.
Here I sit in a noisy gym, swarmed by basket-ball playing kids, trying to calm my fluttering nerves. My hands tremble as I anticipate the challenge of changing my perspective from "teenager" to "teacher." How can I be an authority to these students when I am hardly taller than they are? A friendly student greeted me moments ago- and her hands were bigger than MINE! I hope they can't smell fear like dogs... Five more minutes till I begin!
I started to really take to the classroom scene. My dad was a teacher, so I figured that's why it all felt so familiar and easy.
I'm subbing at W-- Elementary today. It's my dad's school, so he comes in sometimes to check up on me. It's been fun to do this with him.
Then I started to get requested back, and the idea popped in my head- teaching? Could I do this? Could I be THE teacher? I had no idea back then what an impact that thought would have on the rest of my life.
What are some of the places you have worked? Tell us about it in the comments! WBS- Jess
Comments