I'm the type of person who preaches about free will and spontaneity, but lately, my days have been looking the same: wake up at an ungodly hour, bus two-plus hours, school, work, bus home, dinner, maybe writing, maybe sleep, time permitting, of course.

It's not uncommon for people to ask, "How do you do it all?" My response is simple, "LOL, I don't really have a choice." And it's true. If I don't get good grades, I lose my scholarship. If I don't work, I don't eat. If I don't submit short stories, there goes my resume. I don't have a "when all else fails" safety net. You may think I'm being hyperbolic, but it's the honest to God's truth.

I try very hard to work both hard and smart, using what little free time I have to be productive. That means essentially no time for parties or things of the like. Needless to say, that's treated like some glorious sin.

All I do is work. I'm a bad young person. I'm terrible at being 22. But I've always been very ambitious. It's a double edged sword; I work too hard, I get criticized for it. Don't work hard enough? Once I graduate I'm stuck on my best friend's air mattress until a lucky McDonald's snags me up as a star burger flipper.

So what if I never get a "treat yo'self" night? Who cares if I've tested my body's physical limitations on how little sleep I get? (OK, I clearly do, or I wouldn't bring it up. Y'all know how whiny you get when you're sleep deprived.)

I realize that I'm essentially using the platform I've been given to glorify my complaints. And while that may be true, I can honestly say I don't think I'm entirely alone.

College is stressful. Balancing college and work? Dude, I'm basically running on caffeine and the faith of the Lord at this point. I don't mind it so much; at least I'm always busy, and I'm working towards something. That is how careers are made.

But you know what I've noticed? People take issue with this.

"Haha, Anna, we get it, you're busy."

If I had a dollar for every person who said I worked too hard, I'd have enough money to never work again. It comes in many forms:

"You can't do all of this."

"Why don't you take a day off?"

My personal favorite, "Just ask your father for money!"

At points it becomes a joke, at others, people insist that I don't need to work as hard as I do because I have to 'enjoy being young and not stress myself out.'

I think it's a form of dissonance that leads to lack of understanding. Because, both like and unlike a lot of people, I'm poor.

People have misused the term "poor" so many times I truly believe that's why a lot of people don't really get it. When I say poor, I don't mean 'I have a difficult time affording what I want or have some issues,' I mean poor in every socio-economic sense of the word.

Growing up, I struggled. Bills didn't get paid. Hand-me-downs, lack of insurance, food, the whole deal. Do I get upset when people throw the word around not truly getting what it's like to live in poverty? Of course, and as much as I like to pretend I'm not salty or bitter and that I'm above being judgmental, it's really, really hard not to be.

So I'm salty. I can admit it. But I have to say, it's frustrating.

I'm the first in my family to go to college, an opportunity that I never in a million years thought I could have. I was always a bright kid, and luckily I wanted to learn and worked to make sure this stayed possible. I've stayed here through hard work, and the help of some of my best friends who know that I can't really afford to do this on my own.

But at the end of the day, my place in college, and hopefully grad school, is contingent on my ability to work hard. It means sleepless nights catching up on homework after work, long bus rides (because I can't afford a car) and being incredibly jealous of people who have enough time to do these things and have fun. (I said I worked hard, never said I was above envy. Clearly, I still have some maturing to do. At least I can admit it.)

Maybe that's why I get horribly offended at the notion that I'm working too hard. I don't think people understand, I really have no choice. My daddy can't bail me out if I fail. Ultimately, if I scale back or mess up, I've only got myself to blame.

I know I have too much going on. And I'm painfully aware this isn't healthy. And yes, it's absolutely taking its toll on my mental health.

Maybe that's the real issue. Maybe it's not. Even if I didn't have to, I'd like to think I'd work hard. Spending my life on the wondrous air mattress is enough of a fuel to get my work engines going.

Regardless of whether it's out of necessity or sheer force of will, I don't get it. What's the issue with someone wanting to work hard?