Dear author of "I'm Spoiled: Stop Shaming Me,"

Over 70,000 people have read your thoughts about how hard your life is being shamed for having loads of money and coming from a wealthy family. You started a conversation that really got people thinking, and from one Odyssey creator to another, that's quite impressive.

However, you know that with writing any piece with opinion in it, you're bound to have people who disagree. And I am one of them. I just want to put a disclaimer out there, I don't hate you as a person given I've never met you. I respect your confidence to put out a piece like this one. I always give credit where it is due. That being said, here's what I think you might have missed with your article.

You're absolutely right. It is a complete and total blessing to have parents that want to help you in any way they can. Nobody is shaming you or anyone for that matter because your parents want to provide for you. Most good parents want nothing more than for their children to have anything they can possibly want. The reason you're getting shamed is because of this statement and the mindset you have that shines through, and I quote "Stop shaming people like me because we're lucky to have parents who want to do so much for us."

College is designed to give us our first taste of the real world. We have to do so many things on our own like waking ourselves up for class, doing homework and keeping up on assignments, laundry, small little cleaning chores, and the like.

Listen, it's great that your parents' finances allow for them to write you a check at the drop of a hat. But for myself, and 99% of college students everywhere, our parents cannot do that no matter how much they want to. And to say that your parents are the only ones who want to, quite frankly, hurts a lot.

We have to have part-time jobs to provide the finances for our wants like eating out, shopping, Spring Break trips, extracurricular activities, Greek life, and other events we mindlessly swipe our cards for. And there are plenty of students that have to carry almost all of their financial responsibility by working to pay for groceries, rent, gas, car maintenance and repair, books, tuition, and other bills and expenses. And these students are able to maintain their grades and they are learning a valuable skill that people who don't have to work won't get: financial management and the value of a dollar.

My parents also want me to focus on my academics, and that's precisely why they encouraged me to maintain a part-time job through my sophomore year. I'm learning time management and the value of a dollar. I decide what is most important to me when I'm not at work, and schoolwork is prioritized. It's very easy to maintain straight A's or good grades when you don't have the burden of your finances hanging over your head. Sad to say, but money really does make the world go round. Sure, I would love to be able to have my weekends free of any responsibility but what's being carefree spending my parent's money going to teach me?

Independence is not the result of being handed money whenever you need or want it. It's from getting your paycheck at the end of the work week and budgeting your expenses without the help of your parents. You do not know responsibility until you have to manage your own finances. Becoming successful in our future careers does take the crucial skills of decision-making and discipline. However, showing up to a job and working and developing those every day AND professional skills actually does the trick. Nobody is saying that you need to have a full-time job because anyone in their right mind knows that's bizarre and difficult to manage. But having a little 10-20 hour work week does wonders to teach you about time management.

I've had a job since I graduated high school and I've learned more social skills from it than I ever could have from just going to college. I've learned the delicate skill of customer service, listening to an authority figure, working as a team to accomplish a task, multitasking, amongst numerous others. You can't learn skills from a job without actually having a job.

Having a part-time job isn't a bad thing. The negative aura surrounding it is false. Some of my better college memories thus far have been from being at work and with my coworkers. I love my job, and I look forward to having the time to destress for a couple hours by not thinking about schoolwork. It keeps me motivated, believe it or not.

The amount of money our parents can hand us is nowhere near a direct relation to how much they love and care for us, or want us to succeed. I'm sure you didn't mean it to come out that way, but that's exactly what everyone is taking away from your thoughts. I think that once you graduate, you're going to realize that the real world is nothing like what you currently are perceiving it to be. I wish you nothing but the best once it comes around for you.

Yours truly,

I'm Not Spoiled