At the end of the last semester, I began working in the bookstore. I absolutely love the job! I have fun co-workers and I get to be surrounded by the smell of books (I am not the only one that loves the smell of books, right?!), but my favorite part is talking to students and other customers that come into the store. I have never worked in retail before and didn’t anticipate how social the job would be.
While I have had numerous kind encounters with people that have come into the store, I recently received a particularly valuable lesson from a customer.
The other week, one of my coworkers and I began chatting all about the College of Charleston with a man that came in. He asked us what we were studying. I told him what my current plan was, and followed with “but I am just a freshman, so I am still figuring it all out”.
He then turned to me and said “Honey, you are not ‘JUST’ anything! You must answer questions with confidence…be confident in what you are”.
He had recently retired from his job as a business coach and told me that it was one of the lessons that he always tried to stress to the people that he worked with.
I thought that it was such a kind and important message to hear, and want to remind everyone of this lesson. You are not “just” anything! Everyone has their own special attributes to bring to those around them, and everyone should embrace their identities with confidence!