My experience at Moe’s Southwestern Grill was not at all what I was expecting.  I’m not saying it was a bad experience, it was completely the opposite, but I did not think that I would learn such valuable things working at a fast food restaurant.  Moe's was definitely not my first choice, but it was the only place that would except me because of COVID-19.  I hope that I don't have as much trouble next semester while looking for a Field Period.  Even though I didn't want to do my Field Period at Moe's I would not want to change this experience.  The things I earned while working at Moe's I can take with me to any career I have in the future.

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Going into a new job is always scary.  Meeting and working with new people, not knowing what they are like.  New expectations you have to meet and hoping you do all your tasks correctly and efficiently.  I was vey scared and nervous to start this new experience.  When I arrived on my first day I just had a meeting with my site supervisor, Jessica.  we talked about scheduling and what day I would work where.  Jessica runs three different restaurants on the thruway, Moe's, Auntie Anne's, Cinnabon.  Jessica informed me that I would mainly be working at Moe's but she thought it would be a good idea for me to get experience at her other stores too.  I thought that was a great idea, like a three for one deal.  The next three weeks of my winter break were spent learning and working at Moe's and Auntie Anne's.  I did not get a chance to work at Cinnabon, but I will when I go back in the summer for the job they offered me. 

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Working at Auntie Anne's was really fun.  I love to bake and getting to make pretzels all day didn't sound too bad to me.   Auntie Anne's is also attached to Carvel Ice Cream so I got to milkshakes and ice cream cones.  By the end of the day on the days I worked at Auntie Anne's my arms were killing me.  Rolling pretzels for seven hours straight really worked them out.  I also burned myself a few times on the stove putting in pretzels and taking them out.  Along with making the food I also worked the register.  I handled all of the money and the cards from customers.  Sometimes it was tough because some customers were yelling at me about the prices being too high, or not having enough money on them and expecting me to change the prices lower so they can buy what they want.  There were customers whose cards were declined and they blamed me for it saying I was doing something wrong.  On occasions like this I had to call Jessica over for her to try the card.  They were still coming up declined and made the customers even more angry, and swearing at us and storming away.  These days were very stressful, but as time went on I learned how to handle that stress and not let it effect my mood or how I spoke to other customers and my coworkers. 

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Working at Moe's was a lot like Auntie Anne's and not like Auntie Anne's at the same time.  I worked at the register here too and interacted a lot with customers.  Jessica trained me to work the line and prepare all of the food.  She said I caught on really fast, faster than some of her other employees.  The only thing I struggled with was folding burritos.  I could fold the little ones just fine but as they got bigger it got harder.  I felt so bad because I had to get a lot of new shells when the one I was using ripped or if everything fell out.  I messed up a lot and I was really upset with myself.  Jessica made sure to tell me that it is okay and that burritos are the hardest to do.  But, as I kept practicing I finally got it down and my coworkers were so proud of me.  My overall experience at Moe's was stressful but very good.

I never thought that working in fast food would help me as much as this Field Period did.  It taught me many useful skills that will help me in my future career.  Firstly, I learned patience.  There are a lot of people who didn't know what they wanted or changed their order half way through me making it.  Customers have screamed and swore at me, and machines there have broken down.  Overall, Patience was key.  I did not let these stressful events get to me and just took a deep breathe and pushed through.  I was kind to people who were rude and helped make quick decisions to help my coworkers when something went wrong, which brings me to my next point, teamwork.  I worked with many different people during my Field Period and it did not take us long to bond.  All of us got along, and because of that we were able to work well together.  My coworkers were able to put their trust in me for a task as I was able to do the same with them.  We worked in sync as passed burritos back and forth, making sure the customers were satisfied.  Things ran smoothly (most of the time) and that was all because of our teamwork.  I also learned about money management.  I learned where the money goes after it leaves the register and how the restaurants make their profits so they stay in business. The last important lesson I learned was mistakes are need to grow.  I made many mistakes during my Field Period and was so worried I would get in trouble but Jessica told me that it is okay and now I know what not to do next time.  Mistakes are important and they helped me thrive in the workplace.

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All in all, I think that this Field Period was a great success.  I was able to learn some valuable skills and lessons, and got a summer job out of it.  Although Moe's was not my first pick in Field Periods I am very happy I got to have this experience.  I will never forget the things it taught me and I will carry them with me to my next Field Period and my future career.