I am by no means the ideal hard worker. I am not someone that is going to preach about how hard my life is and how I’m a better person because of it. Comparatively, my life is not that hard. I don’t have to worry about much except for my education and my job, where some people my age have to worry about supporting their family or their health or things that I, admittedly, will never have to worry about. But, on the other end of the spectrum, my life is, comparatively, much more difficult than some due to the fact that I have to work for what I want.

I grew up with strict parents. I grew up with parents that expected me to get A’s and B’s. I grew up with parents that wouldn’t allow me to have a car until I absolutely needed one and showed that I was responsible enough to handle it with maturity. I grew up with the expectation that I would have a job when I turned sixteen. I grew up being taught that I have to work for anything and everything that I want. I also grew up in a wealthier community where not everyone was taught this same thing that I was. I go to a university where people are handed things based on the connections that they have or where they come from. I look around and I see people that have never had a job, use solely their parent's credit cards to buy things and believe that the world will stop turning if they asked it to. My mom told me not to compare myself to others, but it’s hard to do that when you work your butt off for something that another person is given on a silver platter simply by existing.

I get it, they didn’t ask to be given an advantage and they’re lucky that they have it. But I just want them to know that at the end of the day, their parents’ connections or money or what have you won’t get them anywhere.

I have had a job since the day I turned sixteen. In high school, when I wanted to go out on the weekends during high school, my parents didn’t give me money. They told me, verbatim, “If you want to go out and spend money with your friends, it has to be your money.” Naturally, as an angsty teen, I would roll my eyes and think about my friends that got money from their parents and scream that they weren’t being fair. Then, in college, my parents told me that not only would I have to pay for half of my tuition, but also my textbooks and anything that wasn’t absolutely essential to survive. Again, I rolled my eyes and screamed that that wasn’t fair. As college has gone on, I can’t begin to say how thankful I am for not being funded by my parents in high school or now in college. I have learned how to save, how to budget, and how to rely on myself rather than on the cushion of my parents’ money. I know with the utmost certainty that I will one day be able to own my own house and buy groceries and provide for myself because I was forced to do it at a young age.

I know how to work. Hard. My grades are a reflection of my effort. I was only on sports teams because I deserved to be on them. I did not get A’s or get put on a team because “my parent is a lawyer and I will sue you if you don’t give me what I want.” I got jobs because I went through rigorous interviews and built up an impressive résumé on my own, not because “my mom is best friends with the owner.” I’ve been taught through numerous rejections and let downs and disappointments that I’m never going to get anything unless I put 100% of my mind and body into it. And this has translated into everything in my life.

I used to feel sorry for myself. I used to wish that I had it as easy as some of the other kids. But let me tell you, the saying “anything worth having is worth fighting for” is one of the truest statements I have ever encountered. And I know that anyone else that has to adult at a young age and myself are going to make it that much farther in life than those who rely on others to get by.