Taking Pride in Your Work

By: Celeste Calabrisi

Today, everything is about oneself. Whether it be as simple as making sure you’re the best-looking person in the group picture or as complicated as making a decision that will benefit only yourself, people tend to care only about their own well-being. Now, I will not go into whether this is the best kind of behavior. Rather, I am going to point out how school is typically where that behavior falls short. Students are often more concerned about their social media presence than their presence in the classroom. This is flawed thinking. In this blog post, I am going to explain to you why your work in school is more important than any other thing you can do.

The title of this blog post is “Taking Pride in Your Work.” The reason for this is that your work defines who you are. Your work style— organized, controlled chaos, complete mess— reflects how effective of a worker you are and whether you take yourself seriously. The presentation of your work shows me whether you care about what you do or if you just pass by with the bare minimum. These things are legitimate considerations when it comes to future jobs, internships, or opportunities. Future jobs may not ask you for example work, but if you do not build these habits now, then you are sure to fall short in the future.

Taking pride in your work is also about more than what foundations you will set in the future. It is also about your personal happiness. Working on a project you do not care about is very painful. Writing an essay that does not mean anything to you can be daunting. However, if you take the perspective that every project, essay, or assignment you complete is a reflection of yourself, then suddenly everything has a much bigger purpose. You will be more invested physically and mentally in the work you do. Also, in your future careers, you may not like your job entirely. That is normal, but if you take the perspective that every task you do for work is a reflection of your work ethic, then your typical 9:00 - 5:00 job becomes more of an investment. Not to mention, your potential for pay raises will increase as well.

In the end, taking pride in your work will create a foundation for yourself that you can carry on in like whether that be for school or work. You will be better equipped to create large projects and assignments with ease. Secondly, taking pride in your work will lead you to a much happier life with school and work. It will foster a “go-getting” mentality to drive you towards success and prevent a feeling of mundane-work depression. Continue to believe in your work, and let it reflect your strengths and abilities. It may just get you more money or save your life.