Brooke Dixon

EN106 Sabrina Vargas-Ortiz

Nov 3rd 2019

Money or Happiness

In Mark Edmundson’s “Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?” he talks about

how important it is for someone to pick a career field that they want to pursue and will be happy

versus picking a career that will make them the most income. During the article he discusses the

issues in the education system these days and how it affects people’s decisions. In the reading

Marks father importantly says to him that one will only go to college one time and that during

that time he needs to be studying what makes him happy and what makes him feel useful. The

“gist” of the article is that nowadays people are paying so much money and having debts for

pursuing a career that doesn’t pertain to one of their goals but instead will make lots of money

later down the road.

I personally think this article is an eye opener and that it should be given to high school

students in their senior year. I think that if seniors had the chance to read and review this article,

it may change their perspective a little bit and could potentially have them change the route the

want to go as far as what they want to major in. I had multiple conversations with my parents

over my high schools years about what I wanted to do when high school came to an end. I was

very undecided about the particular job but I knew that the military had a lot of options for me so

I made the decision to join the Air Force. Before I made the decision to join though, I will say

that the teachers at my high school were very adamant about students getting jobs that had a high
source of income. It didn’t seem like they wanted us to do what made us happy but instead do

what we might be miserable doing as long as we had a good amount of money alongside us.

Edmundson also makes his point about how hard it will be to ultimately get a great

education and how we’re going to have to work hard for it. “You can get a terrific education in

America now – there are astonishing opportunities at almost every college – but the education

will not be presented to you wrapped and bowed. To get it, you’ll need to struggle and strive, to

be strong, and occasionally event to piss off some admirable people.” Which means that we will

need to work hard and put in lots of effort if we want to achieve our goals. Nothing comes

handed to us especially not the education you get from college. Going to college will push you

out of your comfort zone and will force you to focus which is why it needs to be something you

love and enjoy learning about. If one is studying for something they have no serious interest in

then they will get bored easily and more than likely not pass because of lack of enthusiasm

towards that subject. The point that Edmundson tries to make throughout the writing is that it’s a

waste of money to pay for college if you’re not going to follow your dream and do what will put

a smile on your face regardless of how much money it’s going to put in your wallet.

I feel that Edmundson was appealing more to the younger crowd and that it’s geared

more towards them because typically you go to college right after you graduate high school. I

think his writing is very motivational, at least in my eyes. Had I been giving this in high school I

probably what have done things a little bit differently. While reading the article I personally

didn’t see any flaws in his argument, I agreed with everything he stated.
 Citations

Edmundson, Mark. Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here