It Doesn't Matter About the Money If You Love What You Are Doing

Growing up in a military family with four sisters was not always the easiest. A lot of times the military pays just enough for each family to get by. Even after my father parted ways with the military life, it was hard to integrate back into a civilian life and make a decent living that would support our large family. Both of my parents worked throughout my childhood and even then, we struggled to make it paycheck to paycheck. They were working hard at their jobs that they both hated and yet they couldn't support a family. I do not remember a time where money was not an issue for our family. 

Until a couple of months ago, I contributed the divorce of my parents, who I knew loved each other by the way they looked at each other time to time, to the fact that our family constantly faced financial hardship. Tears, screaming matches, and slamming doors over money was to blame in my eyes. As a child, I vowed to never let money to do the same to me. 

From that day, I started dreaming big. I said that I would be a doctor, a lawyer, a pharmacist, or just about anything that would pay me enough to not have to struggle the way my parents did; So, I pushed myself academically and managed to graduate top of my class. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would go to college and achieve one of those careers. 

However, at one point throughout my high school career someone had told me I would be an amazing teacher. I thought about the idea, but no matter what parts of that career were appealing to me, I knew that I would still struggle the way my parents did financially. Thus, I pushed that idea out of my mind and continued to work towards the dream of being a doctor. 

One thing that I think is necessary to point out in this story is that I absolutely hate science. I am good at it to a certain point, but I have no passion for it at all. The abstract thoughts and intricate details that you have to understand in order to under the whole picture of the world is way to complicated for me. Thus, when I chose BCMB as a major, or when I switched to nutrition, those semesters were the worst of my life. I did so poorly in those classes and I was miserable; however, the dream was still there and I refused to let it go. 

It wasn't until I started working in the medical field that my mind began to change. Working close with doctors and having them share their own stories with me touched me in a different way. When you hear a doctor, who has plenty of money, yet hates his job or has a terrible home life, it makes you wonder if money is the secret ingredient to a happy life. You hear people say all the time that money isn't the key to happiness, but it isn't until you see someone who has all the money they could want and is unhappy that you believe them. 

Happiness is all I have wanted since I was a child. I have wondered how it would feel to be financially content, yet love what you do for a living at the same time.  It is hard to find that line. It wasn't until camp this last summer that I realized that teaching and working with the future generations of the world is where my heart is at. When you have almost every child come up to you and hug you at the end and thank you for teaching them so much, it is the most full-filling and wonderful feeling in the world. It was at that moment that it all clicked. I knew that for me, filling others with love and teaching them valuable life lessons, no matter the money, would make me happy enough. My cup would overfill and the fact that I was content in my career would run over into my family life. 

Now looking at my family dynamic and the divorce of my parents, I see that it was not only the money struggle that hurt them, but also the fact that every day they didn't have anything to look forward to. Neither of my parents were happy outside of our house in their jobs and the jobs that they worked drained their cup. When they came home their cup was so dry that it would shatter and break. Had they loved their jobs, no matter the money, would things that been different? 

Now, every day I work towards my future career of teaching the next generations and filling them with all the wisdom, values, and love that I can. Teachers do not make the greatest amount of money, but in my opinion they have the most important and rewarding job. It is my hope that no matter how hard financially it may get, that my love for teaching and all that it will do to fill my cup will run over into my future family.