Sure, it's a cliche at this point. It is important to go to college, get good grades and find a career.

But why?

Well, I will tell you why; instead of spending my summer doing what I love, doing something I'm passionate about, I was stuck in a dead-end, 60 hour work week, repetitive, hate-every-minute-I-am-there, job. Sure the pay was good and the benefits are nice; if I was going to be a full time employee. But alas I was never going to become that. I was destined to be stuck working as a temp hating the fact that I work seven days a week more often than not.

My passion is writing about sports, instead of writing for Monstah-Mash.com, a wicked awesome Red Sox site, I was confined to my wielding machine focused on hitting quota numbers instead of writing down quotes. I was miserable and even developed a condition that if i didn't quit my job I could have developed pneumonia. It was awful to say the least.

Now, I am currently 19 years old. I have more than enough time to mold my future to extend far beyond some factory job that I despise. But now imagine someone who isn't in the prime of their youth. Imagine someone who is 55, has bad joints, and HAS to work 50 hours a week. That's where this job becomes scary. Most of my co-workers were middle aged men who didn't have the education or credentials to get further. Some of them were women that got pregnant before they were ready and now have to support themselves and their children. Some of them were ex-cons that couldn't find any other work. They weren't bad people, but they were just trapped in a bad place, without a way out.

My dad always said "You can't make your life today, but you can mess it up today." That quote really applies to this dead end job. I beg the people reading this, be brave, take the first step in getting your education. Education it the greatest freedom on planet earth do not let anyone take it away from you.

Money truly cannot buy happiness. That is what I have learned this summer. Follow your dreams, fuel your burning passions, conquer your fears, you'll thank yourself.