ANH PHAM

My grandmother used to work for the long-haired army – all-female armed force -  in the later years of Vietnam War (around 60-70s) in the countryside area of Vietnam. She works as a soldier – holding the gun in the warzone- as well as a supporting rear team member - helping to feed soldiers and transport the weapons to the fighting zone. All the work she did was extremely dangerous and risky, but she found it the most meaningful work she has ever done in her lifetime. Because she has given her all to serve for her beloved country and go through the most difficult times in order to take back peace to her motherland. To her, work is for her country.

 

My father used to serve as a herdman of buffaloes for other people while studying ever since he was a teenager. Even though his family was not well-off at all, he was able to have good grades during his school year and finally got a scholarship to go study abroad. To him, work is an opportunity to make life better for himself and his family. To pursue what he considered to be the most important in life – education.

 

My mother works as a banker. She admitted she does not like sitting all day in the office, but would rather going out there to explore the world and travel. However, she chose to sacrifice and work well to provide for our family and help her children have a good education. To her, work is a way to make both ends meet, gain invaluable experience with money and teach us about money in particular and life in general.

 

My brother works part time so he can pay for his college tuition and lessen the pressure of money on our parents’ shoulders. To him, work is a way to express love and appreciation for our parents, and also a way to become truly financially independent.

 

Work, for me, is a great way to contribute to our society. Though, I truly believe that how I think about work is greatly influenced by my family. To elaborate, when I reflected on myself the other day, I found myself working hard to make my country proud when studying abroad. I am working to pay my own bills and tuition fees. I am working to have a freedom in making decisions about money in particular and living my own life in general.

 

I think we, as human beings, ever need work at all in order to seek meaning in life. What purpose do we put in our work, I believe, is one of the many meanings of our life in general. For example, some people choose to work hard to provide for their loved ones, which means they value love and relationship a lot. Some people work hard to be respected and admired, meaning that they value self-value the most. Work really means different things to different people. It also shows just how much we value some particular things in our lives, which helps in deciding our own moral values and general perspective on life. To me, it is important that I love what I do, but it is okay to feel that it is hard sometimes. I know people always say “Do what you love, then you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”. That is a really powerful sentiment. While it is wonderful if you can feel passionate about your work every day, it is also absolutely normal if sometimes you feel worn out and discouraged at the end of the day. Work is not play, but exertion and efforts we put in order to pay bills and put food on the table after all. It stands us in good stead if we are able to balance everything out: do what we love and/or love what we do. “Love” here means not only embracing all the good sides of it but also the bad ones!