Tonight, I sit in my comfortable bed in my college dorm room, a can of Reds Apple Ale in my hand, writing an article for a lovely website. My day consisted of eight and a half hours of work for a company that I love, as well as finally getting around to unpacking my belongings. Compared to the rest of my college campus, I had a boring day. Considering that today, my entire campus is out at the T-Pain concert in the arena, having a blast. I can hear the cheers of my fellow classmates and student body making their way to and from this event.
This is how my life generally is. I watch from the sidelines as my peers have a fantastic time living up their college years, while I stay home and get work done. While they're out burning a hole in their pocket, I'm stacking up the big bills in my savings account like it's nobody's business.
My primary focus in life is work. I get shit done day in and day out, and there are few things that ever stop me. School is incredibly important, but my mindset has always been on making money. Even when I'm taking a rest, chances are I'm writing an article on my phone or coming up with a new idea for one of my positions. It isn't often that I am literally doing nothing, or something purely for fun and my own enjoyment. Yet the majority of my peers are doing the opposite, living it up and having a wild time.
Most of the time, I'm annoyed by how my peers are acting. I've never personally understood why spending every weekend at a party or bar is respectively fun. But what grinds my gears the most is how these same students who are wasting their money on alcohol, drugs and food they don't need to pay for, are the same students complaining about not having any money. And what I've also noticed is most of the time, these same students could easily make a decent amount of money with a job if they took it as serious as their partying habits.
Sometimes though, I feel like I'm missing out. Though my personal issues of anxiety and chronic illnesses severely affect my ability to party and socialize as much as most people my age do, I definitely don't do it as much as I should. I look on my Facebook and Instagram feeds, and all I see are pictures of my fellow classmates living their lives to the fullest and having a fabulous time.
At the end of the day, I can take a major sigh of relief every night when I look at my bank account. I know full well that I'm working my ass off for a brighter future. The amount of time, effort, and dedication I have put into my work will someday pay off. I don't know a single person my age who works as hard as I do to support themselves. The more I save now, the more comfortable I'm going to feel down the line when it matters.
While those around me are struggling to find jobs to pay the bills, I'm hoping that all of this hard work I'm doing will reward me with a position of my dreams one day. If I have to sacrifice a rowdy and exciting social life for a bigger and brighter future, then it doesn't seem like that much of a sacrifice to me.
