My father woke me up early one summer morning when I was fourteen and said, "Get up, you're going with me to cut the grass in the garden."
The idea that my father thought I was old enough to help him in his business（生意）made me feel proud（骄傲）and excited. From sunrise to sunset, my father, my younger brother and I worked in the large garden, in a rich part of Atlanta, Georgia. By the end of the day I was too tired to say a word but I felt good. This was my first time to help my father in his business. I got $6 for my work that day.
One day my father found some leaves I had missed and pulled me aside. "Take away these leaves!" he said seriously, "and don't make me have to tell you to do it again." The message was clear. Today I still value（珍视）it , which my father gave to me that day. It will always be helpful to impress（给……留下印象）the person you are working for.
After two years, I left home and went to another town to start my new life. Luckily for me, I quickly found a job to wash dishes in a restaurant. Every morning, I set off early, always with the same strong wish I got long ago. I felt like I was old enough to be independent and make a living by myself.
In fact, washing dishes was not exciting, but that didn't matter. It taught me that any job was a good job and whatever I got from the job was more than I had before. I could learn something meaningful from every job and do it better and better. One day, a newspaper reporter once asked me how someone could possibly live with hard work and low pay. "If you only think about hard work and money, ." I answered.
In every job, from cutting the grass to washing dishes, I've learned much. I've learned something that helps me in my next job.
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