Personal Narrative: My First Job

As long as I can remember I’ve been passionate about helping people who are in need. I

can’t say I ever thought about what that meant when I was a teenager, but as I got older I knew I

wanted a career that involved helping people. I became a mother at the age of 18 and I wanted to be able to provide for my son, but I didn’t know at the time what my direction would be. As a young mother I worked jobs I felt were available to me at the time. Each of the jobs provided me with lessons that I carrying with me today.

My first job was at Burger King where I was a cashier and took orders. The things I remember enjoying the most about this job was the interaction with the public and my co-worker’s. I actually met one of my dearest and longtime friends working there. She taught me how to count money back without using the register and how to open and close the store. I learned how to be responsible and the importance of coming to work and getting there on time. I also learned how to deal with difficult people. I never knew from day-to-day what I would experience when a customer came into the restaurant or the drive-thru. As an employee I had the responsibility of providing excellent customer services and serving quality food.

That’s what I was being paid to do. There were many days when customer’s attitudes were less than friendly, but rather than behave unprofessionally, I kept a smile on my face and provided the best customer services possible. Back then, I could not have imagined I would be applying those experiences throughout my career.
My next job was another cashier/salesperson at a T.J. Maxx store. This job was somewhat of a similar experience as Burger King, but with a different group of people. What I liked most about this job was the team work at the end of the night. After a long day, before the night crew could go home each department had to be cleaned and prepped for the next day. Clothes had to be hung in the right departments, shoes had to be straightened, purses had to be color coded and hung appropriately and all towels and linens had to be folded in the housewares department. Once a team member finished their department they would go to another department and help out another team member. This taught me the meaning of team work and how it’s important to work together to get a bigger job done. As I moved on to more professional work experiences I learned who beneficial working with a great team can be.
My first professional position was a Secretary II with the Department of Clinical Research Data Management at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). I was the youngest person in the office with just enough experience to have been hired temporarily with the possibility of being hired full-time. I 23 or 24 years old, full of confidence, ambition and eager to learn new things. I was surrounded by some of the best people who were willing to take me under their wings and teach me everything I needed and wanted to know. Another thing that stands out to me about this time is the importance of having a good leader/supervisor.
My supervisor at that time was a woman by the name of Kathy Hayden. She was probably one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met to this day. She supervised a staff of about 8 and treated us all as if we were not only her employees, but members of her family. If there was a problem, she confronted it with ease and professionalism and she was always fair. She had an open door policy and any of her employees could come to her about anything. If she saw you struggling in an area should would pull you aside and teach and mentor you. She was an incredible person to have known and worked for. I’ve been fortunate along my career path to have worked for some incredibly strong and professional women.
My next position with UAMS helped me to decide what I would major in college and a potential career path. I begin working as an Administrative Assistant II with the Department of Pediatrics -Foster Care. I received intakes on every child placed in foster care in the state of Arkansas. The circumstances of why a child came into foster care varied from sexually or physically abuse to lack of adequate living conditions. The intakes that struck me the most were the ones of children who had been physically or sexually abused. It’s hard to comprehend how an adult could do such horrible things to a child. I would think about how the child could ever recover from the abuse and what punishment the perpetrator would be face. I decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in criminal justice with a minor and psychology.
I received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in May 2004. I was the first person in my immediate family to receive a college degree. Both my parents and older brother had gone to college, but never completed their degrees. This was a huge accomplishment for me and my family. My hope after receiving my degree was to find a position in law enforcement working in the juvenile justice system. While I was completing my degree, I was working part-time at Youth Home, Inc., which is a psychiatric facility for adolescent and teenagers. My position was an Admissions Representative and throughout my time there I realized many of the children who were admitted had been in trouble with the law due to their mental health issues. I wanted to help clients get the mental health treatment needed as well as help keep them out of trouble.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any positions available I qualified for and I was unable to find a suitable position in the juvenile justice system. I needed a full-time job, so I position at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation opened and I was hired as a Fundraising Assistant. This position was probably the biggest career mistake I’ve ever made. I took the job because I needed the income, but I had never been so miserable on a job in my life. Fundraising is a profession either you’ll love or hate. I HATED IT! At the time, I was the only African-American person in my department of Major Gifts. Over time, I became frustrated with the fact there wasn’t any direct fundraising efforts to affluent African-Americans. I even posed the question and was told, there wasn’t a large enough pool of affluent African-Americans to go after in an effort to fundraise. That was disturbing to me.
From that point I felt like I became a target of upper management. I was written up for various petty reasons twice within a year, put on probation and assigned to work with four fundraising officers while other Fundraising Assistant only worked with two. I felt this was a tactic to either get me to quit or be fired, but neither scenario happened. I came to work every day with a smile on my face, did my job and was as accommodating as I could be with the people I worked for. I didn’t make any more waves and didn’t give anyone anything to complain about. So much so, that in the coming months my son was featured in one of the local publications and the vice-president and my direct supervisors had the article printed, blown up and framed beautifully. As difficult as this situation was, I learned I was a lot stronger than I thought. I knew I needed my job and I wasn’t going to leave until I was ready to leave on my terms. As I look back on the situation, I know there was about 5% truth to some of the criticism I received, but the other 95% was pure garbage. I knew that I came to work every day and did the best job I could. Had it not been for me asking a question some of those things would have never happened?
I worked in this position for 6 years before I decided to resign.

I had spent 4 of those 6 years hating to get up in the mornings to go to work. That was an extremely difficult time in my life. I grew up being told never to quit a job until you have another one, but I’m a firm believer that being unhappy in your job affects everything else around you. A normal work day is 8 hours 5 days a week. That means most people could spend more time at work than at home. It’s important to be happy and satisfied with what you’re spending so much of your time away from your family doing. After this experience I have approached looking for positions differently. I look for jobs that I know I can be passionate about and I can provide a service to other

people.
In the past several years I was rehired at UAMS as a Project Assistant for the College of Medicine providing interviews with individuals who are current and past drug abusers. These individuals were provided health education and drug abuse counseling to deal with their addictions. I currently administer clinical assessments for a program treating children ages 0-5 who have experienced any type of trauma, including physical or sexual abuse or loss or separation from a parent or caregiver. My work as a Research Assistant has prompted me to pursue a career as a Rehabilitation Counselor with hopes of working with teenagers and young adults who battle with mental illness.
I participate on conference calls with clinicians, therapists, LPCs, LACs and other health professionals presenting cases on children with mental health issues. The case presentations are on children ages 12-17 who are currently being treated in schools, mental health facilities, or juvenile dentition centers. Listening to these cases makes me ask the questions, “what’s going to happen to these children when they age out”? How will they get the help they need? Who will help them apply for college or find a job? This is the population I want to help and work with as a Rehabilitation Counselor. My current co-workers who are mostly psychologist are supportive of my decision to pursue this career path and have offered to assist me in anyway. My family is also a great support as they are aware of my compassion for people and my desire to help people who can’t help themselves.
This was an interesting project because it took me back to the very beginning of my work experiences. I realized the things and attitudes that motivated to work when I was younger aren’t the same now that I’m older. However, many of the lessons I learned when I was younger have stuck with me throughout my career endeavors and made me more resilient when facing certain work related situations.