I'm sorry fellow readers, but you are going to have to hear me rant on this one. One word describes my job in high school... "horrific". Most kids do not work, or if they do, they apply for jobs at malls or movie theaters. No ma'am, my parents wanted me to get something out of working, so I ended up going through extensive training and I mean extensive to become a Pharmacy Technician when I was 17. I thought my parents were kidding, but boy was I wrong. I would leave school early, put on my scrubs and go. On Tuesdays, I was in school until just 9:30 AM to go to the hospital to perform my clinical rounds there, and shoot over to Walgreens to make my shift on time. The only thing beneficial coming from this was that I looked pretty good in my scrubs.

I remember completing my 100 hours of on-the-job training and getting into the pharmacy and just being depressed constantly. For those who are unaware, we are constantly ridiculed by clients screaming at us for issues we cannot control. Insurance issues are a big one, and we get the heat because we're that person at that time in their face. I've been called "incompetent," "too young for my job," and the best one, "can I get someone who knows what they're doing?" I was really proud of myself that I didn’t jump over the counter on some days. Lunch breaks, by the way, were a mere 30 minutes that I wouldn’t even get sometimes because the lines were so long.

There was one thing that kept me going, and that was my coworkers Bertide and Michandra. These women are very independent who take nothing from anyone. They always had my back when the customers got to be too much. They not only were working 8 hours every day, but were also supporting their kids; each of them having a daughter. Not to mention, they were hilarious. I was like their little kid and I knew my squad always protected me.

This job was very difficult in other ways as well. We work in a small cutoff area from the rest of the store and we constantly bumped into one another. Medication would tumble, workers would slip, it was basically a nightmare for any of us. I made my mom massage my feet after every shift and boy was it hard to keep up with homework. Coming home late at night, all I wanted to do was sleep. But I knew my college dreams were demanding more from me. I had to choose one dream to follow and you can tell it wasn’t my sleeping ones that won that battle.

Through the yelling customers and taxing knowledge we had to keep up with to help each person, I did learn a lot. I learned what it’s like to have to take care of others' needs before my own and how to take hold of stressful situations. It taught me that not only are people cruel in how they speak to you, but some of them really need the medication we offer to keep them alive, and that’s why they would get so emotional. What I have to say to others is respect your Pharmacy Technicians and when we’re handing you over that Xanax bottle, think of how hard it is for us to let that go- kidding!