In my life before Collegewise when I worked as the spokesman for a test prep company, I started an internal newsletter just for the 100+ people who worked at the corporate headquarters with me. One issue featured a quiz called, “Before They Were Bigwigs,” in which readers matched the five most senior people in the company with the first job they ever held.

One ran the movie projector at a local theater and admitted to once falling asleep and missing the cue to change the film reel midway through a crowded viewing of the movie, Gandhi.

Another had stocked shelves all night in a supermarket while blasting FM radio over the market’s loudspeakers. He still could not hear an REO Speedwagon song without being mentally transported back to age 16.

And another had gone door to door as a teen taking surveys for a marketing company; he realized that he could get the required number of responses a lot faster if he just made them up for those families who weren’t home (or who refused to answer the door).

If memory serves, these leaders were running a company worth about $100 million at the time. But before they were bigwigs, they were teenagers who just wanted to make some extra money, far from the polished, seasoned professionals they would eventually become.

Even the most successful people had to start somewhere. Jeff Bezos worked at McDonald’s. Mark Cuban sold trash bags door to door. Sheryl Sandberg taught aerobics. Pick the most successful person you know and ask about her first job. Chances are it will be in stark contrast to what they currently do every day.

One way to ease the pressure of college admissions for everyone involved is to remember that students are not yet adults. They’re not necessarily supposed to know what they want to do with their lives 20 years from now. They’ll try things that don’t stick. They won’t be good at everything. They’ll trip, fall, and make mistakes. Not everything they do will have college admissions or career value. And that’s OK.

It’s what kids do. It’s what they’ve always done, even those who grow up to be bigwigs.