To Work Hard Or To Hardly Work?
Our generation has been cursed with the burden of trying to land a job in a time when jobs are hard to come by. Everywhere I turn, I see students-turned-competitors vying for an unpaid internship. The victor is always eternally grateful to have something to slave over with no compensation just to add a title to a résumé, desperately hoping it will land in the hands of an employer in the near distant future. It’s the ultimate end goal: everyone’s secret desire is to beat out everyone else, land the job and take a stride in the right direction of their future.
Everyone but me.
You see, I grew up with the bare essentials. I don’t want to say I had nothing, because my mother gave me everything she was able to and worked harder than anyone I have ever known to provide for me. Yes, that meant sometimes all we had to eat for dinner was tuna fish and I didn’t have access to cable television until I started college last year, but I like to eat tuna and I developed a love for reading in absence of Nickelodeon.
So, how much money I made has never mattered most to me. I knew regardless of how much I had, I would be able to make do. And as long as I had friends and family to love and who loved me in return, I would be the richest woman in the world.
But, the world is a cruel place sometimes.
I am currently balancing four internships on top of an 18-credit course load this semester. Just last week, I submitted my résumé for another internship for the summer in New York City. I will also be spending a major portion of my spring break in the Big Apple attending seminars and lectures to further my education while a lot of my friends will be spending theirs in tropical places. In other words, I’m headed in the right direction of a stable career and the envy of many college students.
I seem to be flourishing in the workplace while my college colleagues seem to be flourishing in friendships. Not to say that I’m not grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way. I worked my ass off to get to where I am. You’ll find me staying in on most nights, reading textbooks instead of dancing the night away at the bar. Instead of primping and pampering for a night out, I’m settling in for a night in the library. But I wonder if I’m missing out on strengthening bonds with friends by staying in and strengthening my GPA.
My mother always said to focus on your grades, the boys will come later. But what about the friends? Isn’t college suppose to be the time when you meet the people who change your life? That’s not to say I haven’t met great people at college. I have, and I thrive off of their kindness and friendship. But by focusing on my work ethic, am I throwing away my desire for developing these wonderful friendships? It makes me wonder if someone really can have it all.
