McDonald's helped me establish a work ethic and learn what it means to be a professional and earn a paycheck. I was a shift manager in the 11th grade so I had to learn how to manage people and make sure the numbers added up at the end of the night, while doing homework in the back office, with one eye on the drive through times.

Running a shift at McDonald's required some leadership, you have to be able to work the drive through and clean the bathrooms when the time came. You have to be able to handle any tasks in a fast paced environment. I learned how to be a team player and keep the customers happy. Kinda of the same things I'm doing now.

Too few people recognize how many valuable skills a job like this can teach you, and it feels like too few people I meet professionally have these entry level jobs anymore. I always feel like the interns or new hires that I see that have never had a hard, exhausting non-office environment job are just missing a pretty fundamental experience. Whether it's fast food, waiting tables, washing dishes or other manual labor, it can be formative and instill a great work ethic.