This week we are all talking about why we do what we do. When we first decided on this topic, I thought about what it is that I do. Right now I work the normal 9:00-5:00, I have night classes, I volunteer, I go to networking events, and I raise a six-month-old puppy.  This is just a surface-level look at my life. The fact is, I’m busy, but I’m not alone. At the beginning of my summer class, the professor went around the room and had everyone talk about what keeps them busy. As I listened to student after student talk about working multiple jobs, internships, and taking classes, I realized that we are all overcommitted. Often times my generation gets a bad reputation for being lazy and superficial. But I look around me and I see nothing but people trying their hardest to make it by.

            Last week I talked about how students are expected to go to school and get work experience, but it really is so much more than that. We are also expected to network and volunteer and take care of ourselves, mentally and physically. In general, it seems like people have just accepted that this is what it takes to make it in the current job market. So, in a roundabout way, to answer the, “why we do what we do” question, it’s because we have to. We know that the standards are tough and the expectations are increasingly higher. We do what we do because we have to perform at a certain level to survive. Our counterparts who are taking the easier paths are finding themselves jobless and living at home, and we want better for ourselves. So really, we do what we do because we are driven to pursue our own “American dream.” We are all really busy right now, but we know that we have a bright future ahead of us. We do what we do because we are working towards a better tomorrow.

-        Bria