Being only eighteen I have such little work experience compared to the amount that I will accrue over the course of my life. With that being said, for being eighteen years old I have quite a bit of experience in the working world.

Being so young most jobs that I have had are just that, jobs. They are a vessel in which to make money in order to do the things I want to do. If I did not have such grand and expensive plans for myself in the upcoming year than I wouldn't really NEED a job, monetarily speaking. I'm not working to put food on the table or to pay any bills, but to simply be able to live the kind of life that I want to live.

Even though that is my current place in life it does not stop me from getting so incredibly wrapped up in the work that I'm doing that I attach parts of my identity to it. I'm currently working a couple jobs in a field that I once loved, but with time my interest in that field has lessened. So there are days at my jobs when I look around and question if this is where I'm going to be long term. Not that specific job, per se, but at different jobs, over the course of the years to come, that aren't fulfilling and that don't make me happy.

This thought really worries me. But then I try to take a step back and look at the world and my life a little differently. This is what I have come up with so far:

A summer job does not have to define you if you don't let it. Any job, over the course of your life doesn't have to be an an integral part of who you are if you don't want it to be. If you're not happy working a specific job, start looking for another one that would better suit you and your life and leave as soon as you can. A lot of life is made up of working, which means that if you're job makes you unhappy, you are going to spend a large majority of your life that way. That is not a way to live. Don't settle because you think you won't be able to find another job. There are always places hiring all you have to do is look. Don't let a job you don't like become a career that you can't stand.

Now, if you are in the stage of your life where you are working a temporary job just for the summer or while you're in high school then you may have to have a job that you don't like. But it should be that job, that pushes you to go find one that you do once you get your degree or finish school. Don't let the temporary jobs shape you or your mindset as you move forward in the working world.

Always be open and try your hardest, but don't let a job that makes you unhappy, turn into a life that does that too.