Since internships are a bit different this year, I opted to use the year I spent working at Starbucks as my internship. I worked there from November 2019 to November 2020, and it was my first job ever. I generally worked 20-40 hours a week. When I first began, I was mostly trying to memorize all of the recipes and how to work the register. After the first week of training, I worked evenings after school, generally from 4 to 8. I learned time management from this. I would attend my regular classes before heading to college classes, and then I’d head to work. I would get home late and then tend to homework or chores. I was non-stop working whether it was classes, home life, or Starbucks, and I think that was an important thing for me to learn to cope with.
Relatively fresh into my job, I worked my first morning over the weekend, and dealt with my first rush. A woman ended up yelling at me because I got her order wrong, and threatened to get me fired. I got a lot better at dealing with rushes and angry customers later, but it is very overwhelming at first. I’d like to think I learned a skill from this as well. |
Soon after I was first employed, the lock-down happened. Eventually we got back to work. We had to rearrange the store and our method of serving drinks because of Covid-19. It was incredibly stressful, especially because a lot of people would ignore our set-up. I can’t even remember how many times I’ve had to tell people to put their masks back on or put them up over their noses.
Eventually, I didn’t feel safe enough to continue working there during the pandemic. My last day was November 1st. I still believe I gained a lot from this experience, and it will make future jobs a lot easier to obtain. I feel very fortunate for the opportunity and all the skills I learned which will help me live more comfortably as I continue to work and grow. |