My first job

It was the summer of 1985 when I opted to work as a kindergarten teacher assistant. At that time, it was still the USSR. The Soviet kindergartens were very well equipped to keep children aged from 12 months to 7 years old in a very comfortable and nurturing environment. They would be admitted at 8 o’clock in the morning and stay till 6 or 7 pm. Children were grouped according to their age; each group would spend the day in the area that consisted of a locker room where they could leave their personal belongings such as a change of clothing, toys, or snacks, a large playroom area, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Each child had their own bed, and they were expected to take a two-hour nap in the afternoon. My job responsibilities included keeping the area clean, serving meals, doing the dishes, and assisting the teachers whenever they needed help. My working day stared at 7:30 am and finished at 7 pm. The perks of the job were free meals and I could take a break when children were napping. There were usually two teachers working with the kids: one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
The reason I had to work that summer was pretty trivial. I wanted to purchase a winter coat which cost my mother’s monthly salary, and my parents refused to pay for it since it was too expensive. In the heat of the argument with my mom, I said that I could earn the money myself, and she responded with “well, if you want this coat so badly, you can go ahead and find a job.” Being a very stubborn adolescent, I followed her advice. That was my last school vacation because I just finished Grade 9 of secondary school. In the USSR children studied for 10 years at school; henceforth, they could either start working or continue their education at tertiary institutions.
It was a valuable experience in the end. I learned how to take care of 5 year old children along with other skills such as strong work ethics, working on a team, and great communication skills. Moreover I realized that should I choose not to pursue a higher degree I would probably have to do this physically strenuous job for the rest of my life. So to my mom’s enormous happiness I became a student at the Foreign Languages Department of Pavlodar Teachers’ Training Institute right after I graduated from high school. I obtained a BA in TEFL in 1992 to be the first person in my mother’s family who had a degree. My mom held an AA in accounting whereas my dad actually never finished high school but became a highly qualified professional welder.
So, what about the coat that I wanted so badly. I did purchase it but a few months later one of my besties and I swapped our coats. I guess sometimes when you get what you want so much it may turn out not to be that important after all.