My dad always told me to study hard in school so that I don't end up like him. It always intrigued me why he would say it like that. Coming from a low-income household and having financial aid in college, I always count my blessings every day I wake up in my dorm room. Of course, I can never let go of the odd feeling that I have every time I realize that my dad has already been working more than I have while I was sleeping. I appreciate him, and sometimes I even get nostalgic when I wear the jacket he gave me for Christmas with his hard-earned money. But, whenever he says to "study hard” so I do not end up like him, I have to nod reluctantly in agreement and continue with the conversation.

In reality, I do want to be like my dad. He is a hard and dedicated worker, who commits to his family and close friends, and is always dependable. Just because he works a job that requires hard labor and waking up in the early hours of the morning does not mean he is any less of a human being than the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Due to circumstances outside of his control, however, he was not able to take advantage of a quality education.

Too often, mothers and fathers who work hard jobs place themselves as bad examples of what happens when "you don't get an education." In reality, this is a pretty bad example for kids. It teaches them that hard labor should be something that is not of their capacity and that in most respects should be shamed upon because the use of a person's brain function is not up for that. While it may seem true that there are people who think that they are more than a minimum wage employment, it doesn’t give them the right to criticize themselves or others for having one. In fact, many times, by saying, “that’s why you go to college” when pointing at someone like a construction worker or a cashier doesn’t teach anything about how to appreciate the education available to students in the modern day. It instead teaches children not to respect hard labor and devalues hard work and success.

My dad, for example, is a great example of achievement! He has a steady job, takes care of his family, which he can feed and house, and I often find him smiling when he comes back home from work happy to see my mother and I home. Success is not measured by how many material things one has, or by how many college degrees one has, or even by the amount of money one makes, but by taking advantage of an opportunity to help one's self and others to live in a happy and welcoming environment. Success also does not have to fit that mold either. Success can mean mostly anything, and often when we put down others' harder (and often, critical) labor, we are putting down others' struggle towards or current success. Often, people forget that some people enjoy doing hard manual labor, while other times it is just something to pay the bills, but is nevertheless worth admiring.

Even though I might not always have the ability to get up every day before dawn to go work, I admire and respect those who do, because many people in employments that need a college degree take those who have to work hard, and often weren’t given the opportunity to succeed, for granted. This circumstance, of course, does not mean that any job is not worth its value, but what I am saying is that all jobs are equal and deserve equal respect and should not be used as an example to show how valuable education is. So, next time there is construction around, recognize those workers and know that they are working equally as hard as you do in college. The only difference is that you are building society in different ways, one manually, and the other mentally.