Work Like You're Worth More than Minimum Wage

So it has been a few weeks since the end of camp and here I am, back at the same mall I was at when I was 14, working retail for the holidays. Since I have worked for Gap Inc. for I don't know 14 years off and on, I was expected to be compensated somewhat accordingly. I was a manager at my old store and while I knew I wasn't going to make the same amount, I expected to at least start where I left off when I was a sales associate. That line of thinking pretty much set me up for disappointment. Minimum wage in Nebraska is $7.75 and I am not making too much more than that. Honestly, after walking out of that meeting, I was pretty shocked, appalled, and offended. I felt like I was in some kind of social experiment, like Barbara Ehrenreich in Nickel and Dimed where she attempts to live off minimum wage and make ends meet in a few different cities around the U.S. Here I was, with a master's degree, getting paid only a few peanuts more to fold pants than I did when I was 16. But after listening to the general manager talk to her supervisor about how bad business is, how much is it appropriate to complain? After all, I am there only 6 weeks and there are folks who are there for the long haul probably making less than I am and getting less hours. I thought I was going to get at least 15-20 hours a week, but when I only got 8 my first week, I went into panic mode. I started shamelessly promoting myself. I was willing to take any shift for anyone. (A huge thank you to a girl named Ali. I've never met you, but you have graciously sent 15 hours my way!) And once the big bosses saw that I wasn't dumb, that I did know stuff, and that I did work hard, I started getting scheduled even more than the 15-20 hours I was hoping for. My strategy? Work my ass off. Work like I'm worth more than (barely above) minimum wage and work like I'm being paid more (even though I'm not). I guess that is a good strategy for any job. I hope.