It pays to pay your dues

How many times have you heard grown-ups say, "Just pay your dues, it'll all get better"? I feel like every kid hears that enough times to have a small fortune if they had a nickel for every time. But I never realized how true it really was until this year. Bear with me and my cliches long enough to hear my story. You might get to see some really awesome pictures of baby Liesl. And by might, I mean that you will.

I was almost 14 when I first started working at Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in 2004. Back then, I still liked to go to through the maze for funsies, as you can see in this picture.

I picked up an application while my mom and I were there (to do the maze) on a Wednesday, came in for a conversation with Rudy on the Host bridge an interview the next day, and was working by Saturday. My first job? Cleaning toilets. Emptying trashcans. Refilling paper towel dispensers. Picking up trash. Not the most glamorous job, but man, that $5.15/hr made it all worth it. And Bill was a really great manager--he believed in his young employees, and made sure we learned how to work hard.

In 2007, I started working in food and with a register. That's right, I was a boss at making lemonade.

I spent some shifts in the Lemonade Stand, and worked A LOT of shifts in the Corn Cafe. Seriously, so many Corn Cafe shifts. There were some General Store and Snack Shack shifts thrown in there too. These years made me realize how glad I was that I didn't work in the restaurant industry.

But we all know that I really just like to talk. So one day they gave me a microphone! Just look how happy that made me.

I started doing Stalk Talks and Host Maze Master in 2008. This was by far one of my favorite job. Who wouldn't want to get paid to talk ALL DAY?! I loved making announcements and helping people through the maze. Plus, I'd always wanted to be the Host Maze Master. If there was one goal I had from the time I started working, that was it. I was beyond thrilled to finally have the chance to do it.

2010 was the first year that I worked pre-season. It was mostly planting flowers and being on the infamous Staining Crew, though I did a little bit of painting, which eventually led to being the primary creative painter for the next few years. I painted the maze photo ops, a number of petting zoo signs, and any other miscellaneous things that needed to be painted.

Our theme in 2011 was "Once Upon a Time," which obviously lent itself to my favorite job thus far-- being a princess!

I got to walk around in a poofy pink dress and take pictures with all the little girls, who got so smiley and giggly at the sight of a "real princess." We also had Story Time with the princess, which involved me reading a fairy tale story, and using kid volunteers from the audience to help tell the story. Seriously, the best job ever.

From that point on, my official job title was "Extra".... AKA running around giving people breaks going for extra supplies counting money doing whatever Sara needed me to do.

In the off-season, I did all the creative painting (photo ops, more petting zoo signs, etc) and lots of regular painting (the entire Sweet Shop and new bathrooms and the new General Store). Which brings us to the present.

This winter, five managers decided to leave Cherry Crest, all around the same time, leaving a number of positions and areas open. The last 9 years have finally paid off: Jack and Donna offered me a full-time, year-round Assistant Manager position that would include staff development, handling first aid incidents and lost children, developing more stage shows and entertainment, taking over the social media (like our Facebook page!) and of course, coordinating all the painting that needs to be done. After several days of prayer and some fasting (this opportunity conveniently came during my Daniel Fast), I accepted the position.

I started the same day. Since then, I've officially moved into my new desk (That's right. I get a desk), written the Stalk Talk script and gameboard with Sara, had numerous meetings, stuffed a lot of envelopes, and still managed to get all the fish painted for the Underwater Cave.

It's funny, because it doesn't seem like much changed from year to year. It was a gradual shift that took place as I got older and more experienced. But when I look at where I started, and where I'm at now, there is a big difference. I've worked hard to get where I am. I've put in countless hours, worked so many double shifts, endured a lot of mud and rainstorms, survived a tornado, and filled out enough count-back forms to paper a small forest. And now, it's come back around.

I know you can't always stay at the same job for a long time, even if it's one you really like. I know there are other circumstances. But sometimes it really is worth it to stick around, even when the going gets tough. You never know when it's going to pay off.