Students take up internships or find part time work in their area of education, but during my year abroad, I worked part-time at a diner! Rosie’s Diner, was an on-campus job, as F-1 students aren’t allowed to work off-campus and we’re just limited to twenty hours a week. I worked there for the whole year I was abroad and it was the most amazing experience, ever.
A little detail about Rosie’s, it is a 24X7 diner located in a residential building. We were always open, even when a snowstorm raged outside. The complete part-time workforce was the students, and the full-timers were the chefs and managers.
The coolest thing was that we were allowed a free drink each, actually multiple free drinks, and we could have anything we liked! My favorite station was the expo, where we called out the order numbers on a mic, I had a chance to talk to a lot of people, and it was fun. The other stations were the fryer, where they made fries and chicken strips; the flat top, where all the sandwiches and subs were made, and it was always hot, like really hot and always busy; the broiler had all the burgers, fish suns, and all the grilled chicken burgers; and the specials had all kinds of omelettes and shakes. The freezer was the coolest place, of course!
I was promoted to the student manager position after a semester, as I knew all the stations, and that a was great achievement for me. Doing that job made me more independent, I made my own money and spent it on my personal needs. It was the first time when I didn’t ask my parents for money and it made me really proud.
