There eventually comes a time in every person’s life where he or she looks to a mirror and sees reflections of his or her parents. But before that day comes, we must first make that difficult transition from adolescence into adulthood. My first step to becoming independent began as most others do by scavenging the mall for jobs. Unfortunately, most stores gave me the lame excuses of: “We have no positions open.”, “You have no experience!” and “Didn’t we catch you shoplifting here?”
After that fell through, I began posting fliers around my neighborhood advertising a sitting service. I was positive that this was a sure fire plan—as every family sitcom has at least one episode about it. While the hours were difficult and the children were more so, my fire eventually died out. There was no hesitation in their attempts to make tons of messes and shove crayons from every spectrum of the rainbow up my nostrils. Fed up, I left the sitting service with a hatred of working…and of all things Crayola.
Becoming independent was a lot harder than I had expected. I was too old for a lemonade stand, too young to start a business, and too angsty to make an effort in either. My journey to adulthood seemed to have come to an end. I would continue to walk the earth as an immature adolescent: nameless, jobless and penniless. I could picture it now, forever sitting in a teenage bedroom as my parents sullenly flip through travel brochures for what was supposed to be their second honeymoon. I realized I would have to grow up sometime.
Picking up a newspaper, I began highlighting my way through pages of job ads, in the most professional color I could find–pink, of course. It was difficult finding work, but I knew if I kept working at it something would come up eventually. Luckily, when the florescent hue of my highlighter went dry, I stopped by my local Office Depot to find a hiring sign calling my name at the door. In an on-spot interview, I quickly got not only the position but a satisfaction in working hard to find a job that works for me. Overall, a strong determination for my future–and a little luck–ultimately paved my way to becoming independent.
