Although I’ve lived in America  most of my life, I am native to Nigeria. And while I qualify as an American, my parents will never allow me to forget where I’m from. I guess that’s where my fascination with other cultures originates.

As a teenager, you don’t expect your first job to be anything spectacular. At least I know I didn’t. When I got a call to work as a cashier for a local pizza place, I was stupefied to say the least.

My first day of work I was hit with a conglomerate of diverse cultures. The delivery drivers all spoke a different language from the pizza maker, who spoke a different language from the Hispanic chefs who manned the grill.

I later came to realize that the drivers were from Nepal, and the pizza maker – a tall, lean, amiable guy – was from Greece. With years of Spanish under my belt, I was able to connect with the chefs, whom I learned were from El Salvador. Work transformed into something magical, a well of knowledge and insight about other cultures.

In the United States there are laws against working until you are at least 15, but in El Salvador boys begin hard labor at age 10 or younger in order to support their families. Where we are technically considered adults at the age of 18 here and encouraged to live on our own, in Peru it is common to live with your parents and grandparents forever.

Not only did I learn about the lifestyles of other cultures, but I was exposed to a whole new world of native cuisine. For example, in El Salvador it is common to eat apples with hot sauce and salt, and Greeks will put feta cheese on anything. My experience at my first job allowed me to embrace my own culture more as I learned about others’ backgrounds. The experience has encouraged me to travel and learn more and take advantage of our beautiful world.