Since the end of sophomore year, I’ve worked at the Red Robin here in Liberty and I’ve loved [almost] every minute of it. I started there as a host when I was 16 and I’m shocked at how the time has flown by.

Over winter break, I did what I’d been talking about doing for months: I became a server.

Fortunately, transitioning from hosting to serving was smooth for me. Even though it all seemed easy at first, the nerves kicked in when I knew my managers and coworkers were watching me. I got through it, passed all my tests and am officially a server.

Becoming a server has taught me more about Red Robin, my coworkers and even myself. When I was hosting, I would watch other servers holding full trays of food, talking to tables and using the computer systems with ease. All of these things seemed terrifying to me at first, but I realized that I’m more than capable of doing all of those things.

I underestimated myself a lot during my training. My first day I quietly stood back and observed, but then on my second day my trainers wanted to see how I’d handle doing all the talking.

Within a couple hours, I was doing everything by myself. My trainers were shocked, my managers were shocked and I was shocked. Because of my progress, my general manager let me take my final test a day early, because I knew I was ready.

I always have issues with underestimating myself and I’d never realized it until this point. I know for a fact that I am not the only one who feels like this.

My new position has opened my eyes to a lot of things. I’ve learned that people are not always as they seem. You can’t assume things about people before you get to know them. For example the other day, as I watched a group of ten people be seated in my section, I became terrified.

After a few hectic minutes of grabbing drinks for everyone, I relaxed and kept going. As it turns out, that group was my easiest table of the day and they were the sweetest people, too!

Basically what I’m trying to say is that you never really know how things are going to turn out, but you can always hope for the best.

So, what I have to say to you out there is this: never underestimate yourself.

Don’t sell yourself short.

Never tell yourself you can’t do something, because you’ll never know until you try.

And most importantly, no matter what you can or cannot do, be proud of yourself.