A little Clarification

            Earlier this week, I gave a presentation on why a company should hire me. Instead of the traditional approach to the question, I took the polar approach and talked about why I did not want to work for the company. I talked about the goal of being happy, rather than the goal of working. However, what I skimmed over was the fact that work and happiness can indeed be synonymous!

Finding the job that will make you both happy and prosperous is an exceedingly rare occurrence. I am not a man who cares too much for material possessions. I am a man of comfort. The main thing I want in life is to be comfortable and content with my situation. I desire to see the world. I firmly believe that life is too short to be living someone else’s dream. I felt I needed to clarify a few things in regards to my perspective on the assignment.

           

My approach was not one of laziness, but rather sincerity. I did not mean to make it seem as though I was copping out on the assignment. In my academic life, I am a highly motivated student who strives to do well. Quite frankly, I have no idea what I’m doing with my life. For now, I’m taking courses I find interesting and that will better me in my life (whatever that may entail is yet to be seen!). I do well for myself, not to satisfy some future employer’s outline of who I should be. It is easy for me to be cynical about the world of work, especially at my age.

I’m a 19 year old student who has only ever worked at McDonald's. I absolutely hated the job, but I made it my own for the year and a half I worked there. I was the guy who sang and danced while working, rather than dismally accepting my minimum wage fate. This is not to say I did not do well with the job. In fact, in the short time I was there, I was given three raises, was made employee of the month and was one of the top ranked employees in the store. The traditional approach to work is not always the best approach!

           

In reality, I take my work very seriously. My work reflects who I am as an individual. In regards to the presentation, I felt I conveyed who I am as a person. I am merely a person who works for his own merit. I do things in a manner that I find pleasing and engaging. I did not wish to bore the class with my buzz words of “dependable,” “punctual” and “interpersonal” skills. It was certainly a presentation that made the class stop and listen. They were both amused and engaged. After the class was over, I heard comments about how I would either do really well for going against the trend, or fail miserably. It is not always about the grade though. Success or failure on the assignment will not break me as a person.

We as students get so caught up in achieving a letter grade. The grade itself only represents a fraction of who we are as individuals. I hope you all got something out of my approach to the assignment, even if it was merely a laugh at that “Quirky Murphy.” I did not mean to leave my presentation incomplete. To explain my philosophy on life would take many days and require you to know more about the experiences that have made me in who I am today.

Simply put, I believe that the world is much bigger than the workplace or the classroom. In the end, I do not want my life to be a collection of wasted nights working at a desk in a job I hate. The paycheque is part of the equation, but it really doesn’t matter in the end. You can’t take it with you when you finally do go. I hope to live a meaningful life, filled with knowledge and experiences. When all is said and done, we’ll all have done whatever worked for our prerogative. 

The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.

-Robert Frost


*Laura asked me to post the video so here it is!