I believe in working hard.
Having grown up in a family which consisted of seven children, I have learned the importance of working hard. My parents always provided us with everything that they could afford. We had clothes to wear and food to eat, but when it came to “spending money,” it was up to us to find ways to earn extra money. Since I was not old enough to get an actual job I found other ways to earn extra cash, such as mowing the lawn for an elderly lady and babysitting for my older sister. When I turned seventeen I got a job at a local restaurant, in my hometown, called Papa Kelsey’s. I worked there until time to go to college. With the money that I had saved up I had enough to pay my way through my first year of school.
In between my freshman and sophomore year of college I had a little less than a six month break. During that time I got a job waitressing at Applebees, a restaurant about twenty minutes from where I lived. For about two months, during corn harvest, I worked a second job driving truck. During those two months, I would get up at seven a.m. and drive truck until four in the afternoon and then I would go to Applebees and work until midnight. Toward the end of the corn harvest I was only getting about four or five hours of sleep each night. When I got home at night I was exhausted. There were times when I did not have the energy to even change into pajamas. I would simply fall asleep still wearing the clothes that I had worn to work. I remember one particular day while I was driving down the road I thought I saw someone sitting in the truck with me. When I turned to take a second glance they were gone. It was the strangest and scariest thing I had ever experienced.
As I walked in the door to my house that night I was greeted by my mom. “Hi honey, how was your day?” I opened the refrigerator door, looking for something to eat and I answered, “It was pretty good. Except when I was driving truck, I thought I saw someone sitting in the passenger seat!” Mom was shocked, “What! Mindy you need to take time off work and let your body rest. Four hours of sleep is not enough!” I knew she was right but I felt like working was a drug and I was addicted. I could not convince myself to take a day off. I had set my goal to go to college and I knew that I had to work hard to accomplish that goal. I was relieved when corn harvest came to an end. It was tough waitressing and driving truck, but it paid off. I saved up enough money to put myself through another year of school.