There are certain milestones in life when you know that nothing will ever be the same. November 12, 2016 was one of these moments.

I distinctly remember the butterflies wreaking havoc inside of my stomach and the fear of the unknown that caused my head to ache. I was starting my first job with no prior knowledge of what to expect. Puzzled, I stumbled into the restaurant that was soon going to become my second home.

My training started, and I was no less confused about what was expected of me than before I had signed on. I continuously messed up and caused the other employees distress. I would forget to assign tables or become instantly speechless when trying to interact with a customer. Every time I made a mistake, I wanted to hide in a closet and never come out.

But after a few months, I progressed and soon was scheduled to work more days. That was a good sign, except I was still in school. Balancing a part-time job with school had become one of the biggest challenges I had yet to face. I planned to do as much homework at school as possible so that I could go to work and not have to worry about it.

However, junior year lived up to its reputation of being the hardest of them all.  I knew that, in order to keep up my grades, I would have to stay up after work to study. All I wanted to do after a long day at school and work was sleep, but I made a promise to myself that I could get through it. As long as I stayed up, so would my grades.

When it came to scheduling for my senior year, I took my work schedule into consideration. At first, I didn’t want to challenge myself for fear that school and my job would become too much — until I remembered that I never wanted to take the easy way out of anything.

I’ve always been infatuated with pushing myself to the breaking point, so that is exactly what I decided to do. I went to school and learned in all of my subjects, and then I went to work and learned about the real world.

Being the youngest one working at the restaurant has forced me to mature faster and learn about people with real-life problems. I have learned the importance of money and how hard it really is to make it. I know how to handle customers who are angry and have quickly learned that the customer is always right no matter what. I have made new friends who treat me like an adult and have my back all the time.

I worked even more over the summer; which at first enraged me. But soon, I was thankful that I had something to do. It got to the point where I actually looked forward to making the 10-minute drive to work. The paychecks made it even more exciting, each one being even more satisfying than the previous. I’ve been saving everything for college, so I can hopefully get a good education and a steady job.

I am a strong believer in the Butterfly Effect — that one small event can lead to something on a much larger scale. If I hadn’t applied, or had missed the interview, or had quit after messing up so much, I would not be anywhere near the same person I am today. I now understand the importance of time management, money, and friendship.

Although this has turned out to be harder than I could ever have imagined, I do not regret any of it. School has always been the only thing I ever did. I would go to school, come home and do homework, and that’s it. But I didn’t know all of the world I was missing until I got this job.