in response to

this post

which was in response to my previous post

I personally love to ski. I have seriously contemplated moving to Vail and becoming a ski instructor by day and a bartender by night so that I can wake up on those powder mornings and ski until my heart's content. I don't think it is fair to call that a temporary happiness because for some people it isn't. Some people choose to not participate in a job that offers a whole lot of security so that they may be happier more often, even if poorer. I guess what it boils down to is if you rather have certain security or certain happiness, not that the two can't be related.

Also, why can't we do the things we love? If someone loves to watch "frivolous" TV shows, why shouldn't they do it all the time? What is stopping them? Maybe our parents tell us that we can't always do what we want because they are our parents and always want us to be protected, but how much are we willing to give up for protection?

I did not mean to portray UHS students as money-obsessed because I know the opposite to be true, but we are obsessed with success, as a whole, and success, today, apparently means having enough security so as to not end up selling ShamWows or whatever one thinks is equivalent for them. At what point did security surpass passion? Who are we trying to please? Maybe I am naive, young, wide-eyed, idealistic, and all that, but, for some reason, I cannot come to terms with the fact that my only possible way to put food on the table and clothes on my back might be to sit at a desk for the rest of my life, completing work that has no significance in my life or the lives of others, and while this somewhat reckless attitude may cause my mother some sleepless nights in the future, I figure that at some point I have to stop worrying about her expectations and hopes and concentrate on my own.