For an unconfident, introvert there were times in my life when I stepped out of character and did something so far out of my comfort zone, I would surprise myself. Looking back, I wonder why I don't do that more often because most every time I did, good things would always happen. This was one of them.
After two years in Iran, we moved back to California in the summer of '78. I would be starting school as a junior. It had been a long and lonely summer. In Iran, I was surrounded by friends and always on the go. Here we had family, but it wasn't quite the same. When school started, things didn't change much. I was extremely shy and didn't speak much to anyone in any of my classes. I went to school, came home, watched TV. I was dying inside.
One day at school, we were given a pamphlet of after-school classes we could take. Classes that would help us in our careers. One of the classes offered, promised to teach me how to become a travel agent. With all the traveling I had done, my interest was piqued. At least it sounded exotic.
The first day of class there were three students there. Our teacher, Mrs. Mattingly owned her own travel agency a few miles up the road. She had two children who went to our school, both I knew, none very well. It was a miracle that I went back for the second class because the first day was, well, boring. One of the other two girl's must have felt the same because she never came back. The other girl must have felt as desperate as I did, because she, like me, continued to come.
After several weeks of agonizingly boring classes, Mrs. Mattingly took us to her travel agency. It was located in a little strip mall and I loved it from the moment I first walked in. There were three woman working up front, full of energy and kindness. Tove, Dottie and Norma. In back was a bookkeeper and then there was a giant office that belonged to Mrs. Mattingly.
For the next quarter, the other girl and I would go there twice a week and basically work for free, filing brochures, typing itineraries and running to the taco bell or little store for sodas for the travel agents. At the end of that time, Mrs. Mattingly hired me. Even gave me my own business cards. It was the best first job ever. I have to say, I was treated well.
At first, I mostly worked in back, filing brochures and doing little jobs, dreaming of all the places I could go, but as time progressed, they let me sit up front filling in when someone was on vacation. Ultimately, Mrs. Mattingly trusted me enough to file the weekly ticket receipts that was required by the airlines and even had me working alone on a few Saturday's which was the only thing I hated.
I also got to go on a few "fam" (familiarization) trips. These were trips that airlines, hotels and travel areas would sponsor as a way for travel agents to learn about their destinations so we could recommend them when someone would come in looking for a place to vacation. I couldn't imagine that my job would include the opportunity to go to Lake Tahoe and learn how to ski for free and go on a week trip to Ireland for practically nothing but spending money.
On top of that, I was surrounded by a wonderful group of woman who shared their stories with me, who watched out for me and encouraged me in ways that they don't even know. I ended up working there for over three years, until my second year of college took over my life.
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