I was taught that I needed to work for what I wanted. Things were never just handed to me when I was younger, and looking back at it now, I am okay with that. People ask me all the time “How do you have time to balance work, school and still have a social life?” the answer is I don’t know. Anyone else who knows me would tell you that I do a lot, and most of the time I don’t plan a lot of things. I am working all the time not just to save money but I am doing what I love to do. Whether it is working at a minor league baseball stadium, life guarding during the summer, babysitting every Friday night, or working in a restaurant every day of the week. I don’t plan for things to happen, they just kind of happen naturally. Everyone doesn’t always love working, but everyone loves making money.

All teenagers are money hungry. We all desire things that takes work to get sometimes. But most of the time the reason I work is not always because of the money. I genuinely love what I do. I love interacting with different types of people. I love seeing certain people on a regular basis. Most importantly I love just being able to provide service while working. On the other hand I want to be able to work to provide for myself. I don’t want other people helping me in tough situations sometimes. I like knowing that I am able to support myself by myself. Help is great, but the best feeling is when you are able to do things alone as an individual. Having that sense of mentality telling me “you will do whatever it takes” is the best way to think about it.

My freshman year of high school was when I started working my first job. I wanted to make my own money because I did not want my mother to worry about paying for things that I wanted all the time. I was limited to how many hours I was about to work because of my age. When I got my first paycheck it felt good knowing that I worked hard for my money. As the years went on I continued working as much as possible with what I was limited to. I tried to work the maximum amount of hours that I could. I always loved getting those last minute calls to babysit. I loved last minute calls for any job that I had .

During the summer after my 18th birthday was when I decided to take on more than one job at a time. I was working as a lifeguard and as a vendor for a minor league baseball stadium. I loved having jobs that were outside, because I mean who wouldn’t it was the summertime.I realized that the more I worked, the less I had to ask for help with my finances. This was right after I purchased my first car. I was proud of myself, I worked hard for what I wanted and I finally ended up getting it one way or another. I was always money hungry, the more and more I worked the more money went into my next paycheck.

Working so much had made me realize something. When I worked I met a variety of different people. Most of them having the same interests as me, and some of them giving me a different view of things. I eventually made friends with people I saw on a regular basis at each job. It has opened new doors for me and everything that I loved doing.

In the end I love working all the time. Because it made me realize that when I wasn’t working, I had to make time for the things that were more important to me. I soon had the mindset that what was important to me would really show when the time came up. I guess that is how I ended up being able to balance everything that I had on my plate. I was able to do it because I was doing what I loved and I never ended up being as stressed as I thought I would be. Hardwork really does pay off.