At the age of 14
At the age of 14 I should’ve been riding bikes, going to sleepovers, reading my English homework.
The reality is, at the age of 14 I had joined the work force. I had already begun to prioritize, choosing work over friends, homework, family, sleep.
My father didn’t have enough money to support myself and my sister.
So I worked. Six days a week. I flipped burgers, deep-fried everything imaginable. I took customers order. I bought my own car, my clothes, my necessities.
At 17 years old, I have been through 3 raises, I work every day after school and 12 hour shifts on the weekend.
At only 14 years old, I had joined the work force and I will not leave it until I’m 50.
36 years of constant wishing for it to be the weekend and surviving check by check.
By the age of 21, I will be in almost $100,000 worth of debt. $100k. I chose to live in New York City, the city where dreams come true. Working every day, yet again, choosing work over my education. Choosing work to pay for my education.
It shouldn’t be like this. I shouldn’t have to flip burgers, work my life away, only to meet the bare minimum. I shouldn’t choose my college major with the thought of “how can I make the most money,” rather than “what do I love?”
We are the land of the free and the home of the brave.
I don’t feel so free.
