Flashbacks From My First Job

Greetings everyone,

Growing up, I thought life was going to be a smooth road without any bumps. This was mainly because I had supportive parents who always gave their best to give me the good life they didn't have at my age. I was also the child who took his education seriously and always strived to get good grades since it would help me secure a good job in the future.

However, little did I know that none of those things was a guarantee for success and even so, I would have to find some source of income to support myself while pursuing my journey. It took me graduating from high school to realize that indeed, I took some of these life privileges for granted.

After completion of Senior High School here in Ghana, we had to stay home for 3 months for our results to come in. That way, we can use our acquired results to pursue a degree at the university. At the time, I was fairly comfortable staying at home since I would at least get my 3 square meals and a place to lay my head. But it was my cousin who suggested that I get a job to save up some cash since university was a tough place to be.

I therefore started looking and with the help of my cousin, I landed my first job, which was as a pump attendant.

My cousin was a good friend of the manager of the filling station since he regularly shopped at their small mini-mart. Thus, I believe I was employed based on the friendship they had built.

Mind you, before this, I had not had any job experience so the formal working environment was very new to me. I had to learn the habit of saying "boss" and taking instructions at the work place firsthand. It wasn't a very difficult journey since all the working staff at the "Venus Filling Station" were incredibly friendly.

Although the monthly salary I was being given at that time was not very good (400 cedis/ 80usd), I appreciated being able to make something for myself. My house was just a stone throw away so I didn't also have to worry about things like food and travel expenses.

All in all, it was a good learning process for me. It was also an environment that allowed growth as well. I remember the manager telling me sometime back that he wanted me to take up the role of the assistant manager after he realized how good I was with numbers at the time. This was my second month working at the filling station. But I had to decline since admissions were out at the time and I had the chance to pursue geology at the university.

To sum up, this was a very good experience for me as it helped me to appreciate the efforts people put in to make a living at an early age. As a result, I never look down on someone's livelihood since it is what is helping them to survive.

Thank you for your attention.