I have always been determined. Others call me stubborn. I have a tendency to get an idea, whether it is to reorganize my bedroom or learn to play the harmonica, and literally not rest until I have acted on it. When I was a freshman in high school, my parents were pressuring my older siblings to find jobs. I was soon determined to find one of my own.

At age fourteen, I entered the workforce. Without any prior job experience or merely a driver’s license, I secured a dishwashing position at Citizen Cafe. Inside a kitchen the size of a large closet, past the sizzling crepes and swirling coffee, a dishwashing station glared up at me. Home.

I spent long, sweaty summer afternoons bussing tables and sterilizing dishes. I use the word “sterilizing” loosely, because it does not even begin to describe the details of a dishwasher’s responsibilities. I cleared the plates of hundreds of customers per day, washing their dishes of coagulated, half-eaten food. I scrubbed, polished and sanitized every last dish until each one was clean enough for even me to eat off of it. After a few weeks of dishwashing, the owner promoted me. She wanted me to meet, greet and seat customers while also performing my usual, behind-the-scenes duties. She wanted me, the young dishwasher, to give the first impression of her restaurant. Delivering service with a smile while also removing soggy napkins from a clogged drain was a nauseatingly dualistic experience, but I would not trade my first job for any other on earth.

Upon asking my age, customers and coworkers were always shocked to learn that I was fourteen. It is difficult for most people to understand why a girl of my age, who didn’t have to work, was essentially running the entire restaurant. I thrived off of the perplexity, and realized that age doesn’t matter. The more and the harder that I worked, the stronger I felt that everyone ought to be utterly disgusted before earning their first real dollar. The owner and customers respected me, and I learned more than I had ever imagined. Many think that dishwashing is a meaningless job, but I take pride in it.

I started out as a dishwasher-hostess, but didn’t want to make a career of it. Though I loved being a working girl, I had always dreamed of becoming a sailing instructor. The following summer, I took a volunteer position at the Center for Wooden Boats, where I continued to be the youngest member of the team. By the time I was sixteen my dream came true. I became a paid sailing instructor at the Seattle Tennis Club. Once again, my age set me apart, and my coworkers honored me with the “Future Grandmother Boathouse” award.

My job at Citizen transformed me into the entrepreneur that I am today as well as humbled me. I will never put napkins in the bus-bin again, nor will I ever admit that age is anything but a number. People may still call me stubborn, but I will always call it determined.