August 27 2012 Does Society Put Too Much Emphasis On Working Hard?

My parents used to say you will always get what you deserve. They mostly said this when I was studying for tests and reviewing what I had learned. However, I wondered if I had to work this hard,  how hard did my grandmother work? This was because I had heard that people nowadays were working even harder than those in the past. The more the world was changing, the harder it was for people to go to good colleges and pursue a career for a long time. People in the 23rd century might have an easier life than we do today, but no one is sure.

My father was born in a middle class family. His mother was a housewife and his father worked for the government. As most parents do, his mother and father wanted him to earn a lot of money and have better careers than they did. My father agreed and started studying as hard as he could. His mother supported him and provided a very good environment for him to focus. When he was in third grade, he started scoring above ninety-five in all his subjects. However, he wasn’t satisfied. His mother gave him more books and he studied harder than he had before. When he reached high school, he had to take a national exam for his colleague admission, got admitted to one of the top schools in Korea, then went on to graduate from Stanford University. Now he is one of the most honored professors at Yonsei University and supports our family well.

I often ask my father how hard it was to study all day, not even watching television. He tells me that it was hard, but worth doing. I remember when I was younger asking him if there was a job where you didn’t have to work hard. He told me that nothing in the world is free and we earn according to how hard we pursue our goal. I still think this is true.

My grandmother was born in a poor family. She was very weak and often had to miss school because she had to lie in bed all day. She was only eight years old when the Korean War broke out and she lost her father not much after. My grandmother had a tough childhood, but didn’t give up, studying at home and exercising every day. She soon became healthy and was able to go to school and become a pharmacist. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if she had given up and not studied at all. She would probably have never met my grandfather, which means that my mother and I could never have been born.

These two anecdotes show how much the world demands hard work. Our life depends on working hard. However, it is not healthy to work day and night.