For two summers during high school, I worked as a secretary's assistant in the office of a construction company.

My job involved answering the phones, taking messages, opening the mail, copying documents, filing documents, re-filing documents, pulling documents from the files and typing the occasional letter and envelope.

While the work was not particularly stimulating, the job did have its advantages. In the midst of two hot, hot summers, I stayed comfortably cool in a deeply air-conditioned office. I perfected my phone voice--"Hello, Drill Construction. This is Esther. Can I help you? :-)" --and though the filing could get mind-numbingly boring, I was probably the most organized I've ever been in my life.

I also got a basic understanding of what working full-time in a 9-to-5 office environment was like--complete with coffee breaks, office politics and everyday crises...