Let me just start by saying: I’ve worked some pretty awful jobs. I think everyone has, especially in their teenage years -- jobs we don’t plan on working for the rest of our lives but jobs we take because our parents force us or we need to support ourselves. My parents made me get a job the second I turned 16. I started in retail, which was nothing special. The jobs after that are where things turned sour. Of course, I’m not going to name the companies I worked for, just that one company made me realize something that changed my view on everything: just because we are young doesn’t mean we have to feel like expendable pawns to companies.

My second job involved working at an event venue. The hours were long, but I worked with one of my best friends at the time, so I didn’t think things were too bad. I worked there over the summer and we often didn’t get off work until well past midnight. It didn’t bother me too much. When school came around, though, is when I started having a problem. Being a minor at the time, I wasn’t supposed to work past midnight on a school night. Most nights it wasn’t a problem. However, there was one night that we had finished cleaning the first venue (the family that owned the venues had two very close to each other), and it had taken a long time since we were understaffed. It was close to 12:30 when our boss called to tell us the other venue hadn’t been cleaned and we needed to take care of it. The second venue was a disaster, and it took us until 2 a.m. to finish cleaning it. After that, I decided to quit. It wasn’t a huge deal, but after I was there after midnight on multiple school nights, I decided that was the last straw.

During my senior year, I got a job at a restaurant. It was nice at first, and I really loved the other people they hired. I worked a lot and made above minimum wage, and at the time, that’s what I thought made a job decent. I love the people I met there, and I know I’ll be friends with them for a long time, however, even after long closes and working 40 hours while being in school, nobody was ever even told "thank you." I came in multiple times on my day off, stayed late and came early. There was one instance where I took a week off to get my wisdom teeth out, and toward the end of my “vacation,” my work called me for what they assured me to be just a few-hour shift. I tried to explain that I was still on prescription drugs for my pain, but they made it clear that I had to come in. I couldn’t even drive myself there. I worked for five hours before my medicine began to wear off and I begged to go home. They promised I could soon after. There was another girl that they let leave her shift early to -- I kid you not -- go to an alpaca show. I stayed at that job, eventually leaving for college, where I took my freshman year off.

When I came back for the summer this year, I started working retail again, for PINK by Victoria’s Secret. The reason I’m naming this company is because it showed me how some companies take care of their employees. My managers make the environment comfortable and energetic and always inspire us to work hard and do our best. There are a lot of perks to the job, too. I love going to work every day and it makes me work harder when I’m there.

That’s my point here: companies should respect their employees, which will make their employees happier and more efficient. I know not every job is a walk in the park. I respect working hard and I’m not just writing this to complain about my previous jobs. When I was a teenager, I thought I wouldn’t ever find a job that respected me because that’s just the way it was -- teenagers were supposed to work terrible, minimum-wage jobs. But that’s not true. Companies should treat all of their employees well and young people should know they don’t have to be put up with treated poorly at a job just because they’re young. Everyone deserves a healthy and comfortable work environment, one that encourages their employees to do their best, and that's what we should fight for.