tom #2

I like being a part of something that doesn’t allow me to simply go through the motions.

I like working on something when I actually care that it gets done. I have worked places where I couldn’t care less when the project got done or if it got done at all. As I’m sure many people have, those days were spent looking only at the clock thinking “Yes! I just made 75 cents since I last looked at the clock!” That’s a joke.

This summer, I am PAYING to do this internship, but I can’t think of another time in my life when I have been this dedicated to a task. It’s funny, really, how money will get me to stay at work longer hours but won’t have any impact on how much I actually work. I told my mom the other day about another job that I found for next summer that I am SUPER excited about. There’s this incredible architectural site that has some of the most innovative designs, but you have to do the manual labor before you can get anywhere in the organization. Again, though, I have to pay to do it (mostly just food and lodging but still). I swear she’s starting to think I don’t understand the concept of money or something.

I want to accomplish something.

I don’t want to look over the countless hours I spent in my life and say, “Wow, I made some good money doing not much of anything.” I know for at least this summer that I will look back on the great amount of hours I spent with Lifebread and say, “Shoot, I wish I did that kind of work for someone who was willing to pay me.”

-- tom (tom@lifebread.org)