Jefferson Veliz  

Professor Mark Jamison  

FIQWS 10108  

FINAL  

Can you have a job that contradicts your beliefs?  

Is life only about waking up to go to work? In society, people tend to misunderstand the meaning of a work and the reasons we were created. Life should be more than waking up to only work and clocking in and out. Life is a cycle, but it should be more exciting than depressing. Before judging work and life, everybody should ask themselves: what is their workview, and what is their lifeview? People tend to mistake the meaning of workview with careers and  just jobs to obtain money; however, workview is the way we feel about our jobs, the things we enjoy and the activities we tend to feel passion towards. Lifeview represents the sum of beliefs, understandings, purposes, and values in our individual lives. Based on the experiences from my family, I realized work is part of survival and life, which leads me to believe that one should work hard for what we want, and provide the needs for our family while obtaining success; however, you can’t just focus on yourself because in my opinion lifeview is being compassionate to others. 

My opinion on workview is individuals should work hard on their jobs, school, duties, or activities. Have you ever heard the saying, “Hard work pays off”? This quote influences the way I think and the decisions I make in my life. Without work, we would not have progressed as human beings. For instance, my mom came to this country seven years ago with a mindset to have a better life. Adapting to this country has been difficult because the environment was different from what she knew already. Life has not been easy for her. ever since coming to the United States, she has devoted most of her time to studying. Consequently, it took her sacrifice, time, and lots of energy to finally receive her GED after one year of non stop studying. Then, she applied to a community college. At this moment, I still remember seeing her stress with the amount of workload sent to her. Eventually, she became one of the best students at Hostos Community College. In addition, there were moments she felt hopeless, but seeing her working hard for what she wanted influences the way I view work, as well as my worth ethic. Work takes lots of time and sacrifice to be able to get what we want, but nothing is impossible.   

In addition, we work to provide the necessary resources for our family. The tacit responsibility to provide for our family members can be seen more prevalently in third world countries, where families struggle to have a meal every day, and some of them even go to bed without eating. This urgency for a stable source of income can even cause child labor, due to the children joining the workforce to support their families. Personally, I come from a country where my family struggled to be financially stable.  I started working at a young age selling vegetables to neighbors. It was not that enjoyable; however, it was nice getting one dollar and fifty cents every day, which was equivalent to ten to fifteen eggs. Another example is my stepfather, who works hard to make sure the family is stable. He is the person who brought me to the United States, and ever since, he has made sure my mom and I enjoy comfortable lifestyles. For instance, there has been times where he has borrowed money, either for food or college tuition. Even though borrowing large amounts of money could be detrimental to his future financial security, this helps to demonstrate the sacrifices we endure in order to take care of our love ones, and highlights our desire for our future generations to succeed.  

I believe hard work is the key to success. Success does not come to us easily and it does not happen overnight; it takes actions and failures for us to attain success. When I started high school, I struggled in freshman year because most of the time I was sleeping in class. I did not possess the maturity to realize that reflecting on myself was key to become a better student. Once in a while, people experience failures, but we need those failures to be able to improve ourselves, and become who we are today. In sophomore year, I was no longer the student sleeping in class. The amount of effort I was putting in class and the support of my teachers helped me grow as a student, and allowed me to become diligent. After I obtained this important set of skills, school became a more enjoyable place. I started to work harder to improve my GPA, since my goal was to join the honor society. In eleventh grade, I became one of the most hard working students in the school. My motivation for school increased more and more; therefore, counselors and teachers voted me to represent the school for the Posse Scholarship. At this moment, I realized how far I had come as a student and the success I had achieved. The idea towards hard work in society is bias because success is not about hard work (Horton 1). However, My journey from crippling indifference to empowering determination demonstrates that success will never come if hard work is not applied. 

Furthermore, money plays a crucial role when it comes to work because money can corrupt us and force us to digress from the true meaning of workview. Having a high salary is important to be financially stable, but we should not pursue a job because of the money. Based in my experience, my family and I were stuck in a situation where our financial resources were severely limited. However, working for East Side House as a Youth Leader revealed a glimpse of a desirable career in the future. On the day I started working for this company, I told them that I would work for them for free because the only compensation I required was impacting somebody’s life. While working, I put more meticulous effort in my job duties than any of my coworkers. The juxtaposition of workstyles became further apparent when most of my peers started doing the job because of the money, while I was enjoying helping students on their Fafsa, Cuny, and Suny. A common fallacy that people believe is that having high salaries brings happiness; however, money does not do anything for happiness, sadness or stress (Korkki 1). Moreover, the need for people to start following their passions is crucial. Money is not going to bring happiness; your standard of living may increase, but your happiness will remain stagnant.                    

My mom always told me to do whatever brings happiness to me. Although I initially believed that money was the source of happiness, as I became older, I took my mother’s advice to heart and realized that following whatever brings joy to me will lead me to have a more productive life. Although my childhood was not as enjoyable as other children, the experiences which I gained helped me grow assets that assisted me in achieving a happier lifestyle. These experiences have transformed me into a sympathetic individual who cares and wishes the best for others. Right now, I am working in Bronx River High School providing assistance to students with their college process, but I am not doing it because of the money; it is because the school is struggling having a high percentage of students applying to college. Based on Foroux opinions, he believes the purpose of is life is to be useful, not to be happy (Foroux 1). On the other hand, the fact that I am impacting the lives of many in our younger generations brings me extreme joy which leads me to believe happiness is the purpose of life.  

Making decisions is one of the more difficult facets in my life. Even if my mom tells me to simply do what makes me happy, the complexity and consequences of the decisions I make lead me to consider multiple factors. Ever since the death of my dad, every time I am making a decision on my life, I ask myself, would my dad be proud of this decision? What are the consequences? Would anybody get hurt? When I was in highschool, my stepfather always reminded me of my poor grades, and the foreshadowing effect that my academic performance possessed over my future. This caused me think and reflect about myself on the principles that my father and stepfather wished to instill in me. I was tired of getting criticized and disappointing my parents. However, I did not change because I wanted my mom and stepfather to be proud, I changed because I knew my father would be proud. Although I follow what my heart tells me, realizing the opportunities that my father was not provided allowed me to make the most out of my own life. I believe doing this has brought memorable moments in life and has made me a stronger and independent person.  

In life, good is feeling compassion and empathy for others and evil is those people who are not compassionate and are unable to feel empathy for others. We are not born inherently good or evil; however these terms are just a culmination of our experiences and influences. Sometimes we change when we lose our loved ones and become more negative than positive that produces us to start doing malicious acts. When I lost my dad in a car accident, my personality drastically changed. I became more shy, unable to socialize with other kids the way others can, but I also became filled with empathy for all of the lives surrounding me. I notice myself feeling more inclined to assist people in poverty and unstable living situations because my personal family struggle for financial stability allows me to relate to these hardships; However, the reactions to traumatic events remain unprecedented, and, conversely, these experiences can form malicious intents in children. In Ecuador, because many children did not possess the resources to purchase what they desired, they resorted to crime and a dangerous lifestyle. In Ecuador, because of the poverty struggles in small communities, infractions of the law occur frequently. It is an easier way but far more dangerous. Although these experiences can cause a wide range of trauma and emotions, I choose to gain a sense of empathy for others based on the challenges I’ve faced.   

The moralistic tendencies of my lifeview and the pragmatic qualities of my workview can often clash. Because I have underwent extreme hardships as a child, my workview has shaped to become practical and more focus in on the sustenance of my family and I. However, the desire to pursue a career that brings me happiness, which is derived from my lifeview, may not allow me the freedom that financial security brings. Often times, I am forced to determine which view takes priority in my life, either workview or lifeview, and consider the consequences that choosing one can incite for the other. If I want to preserve parts of my lifeview and workview, establishing a compromise and pursuing a job that appeals to my moral aptitude will satisfy both of these conflicting ideals.  

In some situations, my goals for future career paths and success are driven by my lifeviews. The experiences I had in high school and as a child has contributed me to be more aware of myself. One way that my workview and lifeview complement each other is when I am choosing a job or an activity I want to pursue such as being a physician assistant. Because this career path supports my lifeview and brings me great joy, I am bombarded with encouragement to persevere and become successful while maintaining my principles. While working, feeling sympathy for others is something that influences my life and remains as one of my top priorities. In fact, I still remember friends telling me they were worry about not getting accepted by their top school. As a result, I had to cheer them up and motivate them to not be worry about it, and comfort them by telling them that I got rejected by my top school. My lifeview and principles greatly enable me to further achieve my workview goals, and assist me to reach my future happiness. 

To conclude, when considering a future career path, the factor of happiness should not be disregarded due to concerns of being successful or bringing in a stable enough income. By compromising between workviews and lifeviews, employment is not forced to contradict your beliefs, but is instead encouraged to support them. Finding a balance between both these view of life will eventually lead to satisfaction in the workplace and general happiness. 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited 

 

Horton, Anisa Purbasari. “Our Obsession With Working Hard Is Ruining Our Productivity.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 7 Feb. 2018, www.fastcompany.com/40527825/our-obsession-with-working-hard-is-ruining-our-productivity. 

 

Korkki, Phyllis. “Big Money vs. Job Satisfaction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/jobs/12search.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share. 

 

Foroux, Darius. “The Purpose of Life Is Not Happiness, It’s Usefulness.” Observer, Observer, 7 Nov. 2016, www.observer.com/2016/11/the-purpose-of-life-is-not-happiness-its-usefulness/.