Detroit Country Day student writes book about first job

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — The summer between her freshman and sophomore years of high school, Bloomfield Hill’s resident Ananya Singla started her first job at McDonald’s. At the age of 15, she learned life lessons that she wanted to share with other teenagers — inspiring her to write a book.

“Drive Through Diaries: A Lesson in Life and Fries” is about her experience working at McDonald’s and takes a humorous approach to what Ananya describes as “humiliating stories” from working at her first job.

Singla is now a rising senior at Detroit Country Day School, and the book just launched. She went through the publishing process with self-publishing company FriesenPress.

“I never really considered myself a writer, actually,” Ananya said. “And then I worked at McDonald’s, and I had so many stories to share and so many lessons that I learned. I think I truly matured during that time, and I took on responsibility, and I think that really pushed me to want to share my story with others.”

Ananya’s mother, Rolli Singla, shared that as first-generation Indian-Americans, they value hard work. She said Ananya was encouraged to work at McDonald’s by a classmate and decided to do it for pocket money.

“She grew up and turned into an adult that summer,” Rolli said. “She truly realized what labor and hard work means and how hard people in the service industry work.”

Rolli added that Ananya is the first one in her family to write a book.

“She thinks deeply, and her analysis of events or things is beyond, like, beyond what I can ever imagine or think,” Rolli said.

Some of the lessons in the book include: dealing with difficult customers, understanding how much you are getting paid, saving up money, being kind to yourself in stressful settings, dealing with coworkers and more.

“The book’s purpose is to help other teenagers who don’t want to make the same mistakes I did so that they can feel comfortable and confident taking on a new job,” she said.

“Drive Through Diaries: A Lesson in Life and Fries” can be purchased online through Amazon, Google Book Store, Kindle, Kobo Store, Nook, Itunes. The book can also be purchased from the FriesenPress BookStore.