What I Learned from My First Summer Job (and Why I Wish More Teens Today Could Find Work)

Now that it's summer, what are our teens doing? Recently, I read an article, "Kids today: They don't work summer jobs the way they used to". As someone who worked every summer after I turned 16, until I graduated and got my first job, I was a little sad thinking that this seems to be a trend that is a sign of the times. Education is important, but I also think that real-life experiences in a job teaches us life lessons that you might not learn in school.

My first job was picking pineapples. My Dad worked for Dole, and we lived in a plantation community. I was tiny, but it was expected that when we reached the age when we could work during the summer, we would go to work in the pineapple fields. It was a rite of passage, a sense of pride at being able to withstand a summer of working in the hot sun picking the king of fruits. In those days, teens in Hawaii knew they had a summer job picking pineapples or working in the cannery. It was hard work! We were up early and arrived at the trucking station by 5:30 a.m. so we could leave by 6:00.  We worked 8-hour shifts dressed in protective gear so we wouldn't get poked or scratched (we still did though). I look back, and I cannot believe I did that work for four summers. At the time (I am dating myself here), the minimum wage was $1.40 per hour, and each succeeding summer, we would get a slight increase in pay. When there was more fruit to pick, we sometimes got to work on Saturdays, and that was great because we would be paid time-and-a-half! Every Friday, we'd get our paycheck which we would turn over to my Mom for college.

We encouraged our sons to get summer jobs. We felt that they would learn valuable lessons from working during the summer. Two of our sons worked at a moving company and our third son worked as a dishwasher then as a cook at a restaurant. In fact, he kept working while finishing his senior year in high school and continued to work there until he joined the Air Force.

What lessons did I learn from working as a teenager?

• Work together; you are part of a team. 
• Be on-time for work!
• Be willing to learn from those with experience. Treat your elders with respect and they will share what they know with you.
• Study hard if you don't want to do this for the rest of your life. 
• Appreciate your parents. (Note - I didn't fully appreciate my Mom back then, but without her, I would have had to prepare my own meals and do my laundry. Mom knew we were tired after working all day because she had worked in the pineapple fields when she was a teenager.)
• Work hard and have pride in what you do.
• Save for a rainy day.
• When things look challenging, take one day at a time. 

Those four summers were not easy, but I believe they helped to build my character and define who I am today. I wish more teens could have these valuable learning experiences. Oftentimes, the best lessons learned in life are not learned in school; they're learned out in the real world.