I wrote this after one of my spoiled friends called me to help her fill out her very first job application - she's 20.
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Up until about a year ago, I used to be jealous of students with rich parents. They live in their apartments for free, drive cars that are already paid for, they don’t have jobs and don’t really need to work, and they get to spend all of their time focusing on school. It’s the only worry they have in life, it seems. Studying and drinking. I touched on this subject in a column I wrote in October called "
Embrace your geriatric nature." That article is one I’m particularly proud of, because it truly is a reflection of how much I’ve matured in the past couple of years. I fully appreciate the value of a dollar, the importance of hard work, and the real definition of “experience.”
While these students with well-off parents were able to get through school in a somewhat stress-free environment, I was trying to make sure I could afford to drive a car to school. I still lived at home, but I was paying a few bills — a few annoying bills that my parents could’ve paid, or so I thought at the time. Now I realize how important the lesson of self-reliance really is.
In my family, not having a job was out of the question. The day I turned 16, I had to find a job. And because I was raised a certain way, I was looking forward to getting a job and making my own money. My first job was Burger King, because no one else would hire me. I worked there for six months.
Since then, I have worked at the following places:
Baskin Robbins (5 months)
Arbys (9 months)
Baskin Robbins again (4 months)
Harmony Construction (summer full-time)
CARE, Inc. (1 year, 10 months)
Percy and Company (2 months)
Bellsouth (5 months)
The Online Reporter (1 year, 9 months with a 5-month break) - Current
Tiger Weekly (2 years, 3 months) - Current
So I’ve worked for a total of nine different companies. Since I turned 16, there has never been a time where I was unemployed for more than a couple of weeks. And yes, I’m bragging.
Having had nine jobs, I know a lot about the working world. I’ve done construction work, office work, retail work, food service, commission-based sales, market research, social work, and now writing, editing, and management. I am like the Barbie Doll of the real world. My acquaintances turn to me for help in doing resumes, applications, cover letters, inquiries, and so on. Some of these people are applying for their first job ever — or at least the first job that will require they stick to a schedule. And I just can’t imagine being new to the working world at the age of 22.
Granted, my GPA is awful, it has taken me five years to graduate, and I’m busy and stressed all the time because I’m working two jobs and going to school full time. But if I could go back and do it again, I would be afraid to do anything different. Everything seemed to fall into place to get me where I am now.
At 22, I’ve already paid my dues in the working world. I’m a writer like I wanted to be. I’m an editor like I never dreamed I could be. Because I’ve been working nonstop for the past six years, it was effortless for me to move out of my parents’ house and into my own apartment. I’ve had little trouble holding two jobs and being able to afford my bills.
I guess, amidst this bragging, I’m calling out to all those students who don’t “have” to work and have yet to truly enter the working world: Get off your ass and get a job. You’ll have less time to study, less time to spend money that isn’t yours, and less time to party. And you’ll be a better person for it. I sure as hell am.
