In life, you’re not going to have things handed to you. In order to be financially comfortable in life it takes both hard work and a quality education to get it.  I asked Senior Cruz Kmetz, a teenager who balances school and employment, what he thought about this topic and his responses were quite interesting.

Q:CAN YOU DESCRIBE A NORMAL DAY AT WORK FOR US?

A: Where I work is Blue Water Seafood. Its a low-key restaurant on route 18.  What I do is a waiter [sic].  A day at work is taking people’s orders, bringing out food, and cleaning up and closing up the place.  For the most part it’s a fun job because I work with a lot of my friends and I make a lot of money.

Q: HOW HAS WORKING TAUGHT YOU RESPONSIBILITY?

A: It taught me responsibility because it shows me that not everything is gonna be handed to you.  Mommy and Daddy aren’t gonna buy you a nice car or buy you a house in the future.  You have to go outside your comfort zone to try and be responsible and successful.  Everyone wants to make money.  Money is a necessity to buy food, shelter, and clothes.  You might not want to wake up early and go to work everyday, but you have suck it up and go.  It’s something that you have to do in life and accept it because you’re gonna be working for many years.  Unless you win the lottery.  If that happens then you’re in luck.

Q: HAVE YOU EVER FELT TORN BETWEEN STARTING A CAREER OR GOING TO COLLEGE?

A: For a long time I did.  Frankly, I liked working more than going to school.  I was not the brightest student in school.  No matter how hard I tried I wasn’t satisfied with my outcome; however, when I worked hard at work I was overly satisfied with myself.  For a long time I considered working after high school and starting my career.  I then realized in order to succeed I need to get that higher education such as a college degree to set myself up for success.

Q: DO YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING COLLEGE? IF SO, WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?

A: Yes I am actually very interested in going to college.  I plan on leaving New Jersey and starting things up in New York City.  The reason I want to go to college there is they have a really good Business school: Baruch.  I’ve visited it a few times and it’s definitely at the top of my list.  My dad always told me the big apple is where the money is at.  And if you know me, I love money.  Hopefully one day I’ll own my own business and making money like its nothing.

Based on Cruz’s answers,  it is safe to say that he believes hard work and dedication are an important asset in life.  It will most definitely not be an easy task to build your way up to living a happy life and being successful.  Detours will definitely be encountered multiple times in instances such as relationships, family, and jobs.  However, you need to be willing to continue to build your way up to reaching success.