As Sophomore year approaches and the impending pressure to declare a major builds, my classmates and I are faced with a classic conundrum; should I stick with a major I hate if it guarantees me a high paying job, or should I choose something impractical just because I love it? I have grown up in a generation where my peers and I were encouraged to simply pursue our passions and told everything else would work itself out. We were all raised on the quote “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” and to be honest I find that statement to be trite and misleading. I think it is really important that everyone find something they are passionate about, but who decided that the place to pursue passion was at work? Something my generation has seemed to forgotten is that first and foremost, getting a job is about earning a living so that you can support yourself.

In a generation that has set out to redefine the drudgery of the office job by creating modern work places that reject nine to five schedules and conventional dress codes, millennial have also seemed to challenge the idea that the primary purpose of work is to earn a living. If you are one of those lucky people who has found a job that not only pays well, but also allows you to pursue your passions, more power to you! The reality though is that many of my peers will enter the working world simply hoping to find a job that pays the rent, and that’s okay. Not being able to get a job in an area you are passionate about does not mean you have given up. Sometimes pursing you passions means taking job that pays enough that in your free time you have the financial means to pursue what really interests you. For some people it is preferable to seek employment in a separate sphere from their passions because it helps preserve the sense of enjoyment they get from taking special time to do the things that they love. Maybe taking a mundane office job gives you enough money to be able to travel or paint or play saxophone on the weekend and there is no shame in that. Following your dreams does not necessarily mean turning your hobbies and passions into a career.

The other thing that always bothers me about people throwing around the statement “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” is that it’s just plain elitist. Only a very privileged minority have the ability to choose a career for pleasure rather than practicality. It takes a high level of education and financial freedom which most people lack in order to reach the point where you can pursue careers simply because you are passionate about the work. Also, news flash- the world needs government bureaucrats, trash collectors, and McDonald workers. Society could not function with out a whole host of unglamorous but very necessary jobs that no one is really passionate about. While very few of the people who hold these dull jobs would tell you that they are living their passions from nine to five during the workday that doesn't mean these people lack passions. For many Americans a job is really just a job, and passions are what they pursue in their time off. Having work no matter how mundane your career may be is first and foremost a way to earn a living for yourself. Hopefully you will find a career option that you find reasonably enjoyable, but ultimately the primary purpose of work is to earn a living.

I don’t mean for this article to be discouraging. As college students, we are so young and we have the world at our fingertips. Being at college exposes us to so many unique opportunities and now is the time to take hold of them and see how far we can go. I think one of the most important things to remember is that even if you are going on to write the next great American novel or cure cancer, right now you might have to start as just a copy editor or lab assistant. As long as that pays the bills, that’s okay. Recently the author Sarah Hepola visited my school and did a question and answer session with English students. When asked what it was like to be a writer starting out she said the most important thing to know is that it won’t be glamorous. She told us starting out you will probably live in a crappy apartment and you will be desperate enough to take pretty much any writing job you get, and that’s okay. If you are one of those people who wants to risk career stability in favor of majoring in musical performance or creative writing probably the most important thing to remember is it might not be glamorous at first, but that’s okay if it’s really what you love. The great thing about being young is that we don’t have mortgages to pay and families to feed so if we are barely scraping by that’s okay too. However, if the idea of living in a tiny studio apartment for the next five or more years in order to pursue your passion doesn’t sound like what you want, that doesn’t mean you passion isn’t sufficient. It just means you value financial stability and would rather pursue your passion outside of your career, and that’s okay too.

For me, I fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. I love writing but I also realize that in four not so short years I will be paying my own bills, so job security is definitely important to me. For me, I chose to major in English and minor in Education. I plan to teach high school English and use my weekend and summers to write, travel, and experience the world around me. Being a teacher allows me to feel like I am positively contributing to society, and it also gives me the financial security and free time to pursue writing and travel, my primary passions. I know I will probably never be rich doing this, but I will be able to pay the bills and that’s important. I am not discouraging anyone from taking a risk to pursue their dreams, but I want to remind people that the workplace is not the only place follow their passions. Forgoing a risky career choice for financial security does not mean giving up on your dreams, sometimes it just means being practical. Most importantly if you are truly passionate about something, hone in on that skill and pursue it. Whether or not you ever get paid for you passions, they are what will ultimately make you happy. However, if you are going to forego financial security in favor of pursuing your passion, don’t quit your day job.