How to write a college essay about a summer job

RReaders in Stanford's admissions office found that some of the most vivid essays came from students with ordinary jobs, and students with ordinary jobs often keep them out of the essay. A cashier, a lifeguard or a teenager running an ice cream truck all summer tends to assume the work is beneath an application to a selective college, so it goes into the activities list and the essay reaches for something grander. Others write about the job at length and ask for sympathy. Both choices waste it. Handled with a light touch, ordinary work does something heavy analysis cannot, letting a reader conclude, without being told, that the writer is hardworking and real.