Being raised the way I was, I was taught I had to work for everything I wanted. If I wanted to have friends over, I would clean most, if not all, of the house. In school, my parents helped me if I needed it, but they never did the work for me. When I played soccer, I went to every practice to better myself which resulted in me not being scored on for three years straight.

My parents also told me I had to buy my own car, save for college, and buy (most of) anything else I wanted. Of course, they helped out with most of my clothes and school supplies, but I did, in fact, buy my own car and will, in fact, have to pay for my own college education.

This is absolutely no problem for me. I hate it when other people spend money on me, but if they didn't help me out with the little stuff like clothes and food, I wouldn't be able to pay for the big stuff.

I take in extra hours to save for college and trips I plan on taking. I babysit (when asked to) and run errands for my parents to pick up some spare change. I ended up filling two jars with a bunch of coins and ended up with about $15 in my pocket! All of that money was in two little jars. That was just some spare change that I accumulated over a few months!

After saving my coins, I realized that working for what you want pays off even outside of finances. This has come in handy with every aspect of my life.

I worked my tail off in school. I listened and took notes during class so I didn't miss anything. I studied after class and spent hours upon hours in the library doing homework and making sure I didn't miss anything from the class. I worked so hard my grades went up and stayed up and I was involved in clubs and school organizations. This hard work ended up paying for my college completely through scholarships and grants.

When I first started spinning in Colorguard, I would spin all afternoon after school until it got so dark I couldn't see my flag anymore. I would train and train and train. I even slept with my equipment to get used to its presence. My comfort level with spinning and tossing was so high I can do (almost) everything the instructors asked me to do. I gained so much experience that my instructors made me a Captain my senior year.

I take in as many hours at work as I can to save more money. I've gotten more certifications and training that help me get more hours from teaching and instructing.

Moral of the story: Work for the things you want. Not everything in life is going to be handed to you. A little extra effort can only help you.