No one is on their A game every day, sometimes you wake up and just don’t feel like getting out of bed. I have had these days and know the feeling of not wanting to put in the effort I need to. Even with this occasional feeling, I always have the urge in the back of my mind to get up and get things done. A person’s work ethic and the way they take on responsibility is something very important to me. All of my life, I have been the overthinker, the person wanting to please everyone and get the tasks done that I am responsible for. I have noticed many different kinds of people with various work ethics; the overachiever, the minimalist, and of course the one person that just does not seem to care.

So many times I have felt the need to pick up the slack in group projects where other people are falling through and I know that many other students feel the same way. “It’s important to learn to carry your own weight before you injure somebody’s back,” said Max Lucas, junior. Lucas is a State representative for DECA as well as a very motivated student. “I always find it frustrating when people let things wait to the last minute and everything unravels,” said Lucas. I feel that things need to get done no matter what so I am always willing to do the work that other people don’t do, even though sometimes it may be frustrating.

It’s one thing to be unmotivated in a group project where there are other people to pick up the slack, it’s another thing to be generally unmotivated at all times during the school year. From a psychological standpoint I don’t think that I would be able to not do my homework or study for any of my tests. It leaves me to wonder, what does motivate a person? Is it in their genetics, is it to do with their home life situation, or is it just simply based off of life experiences and seeing that hard work truly does pay off. I know that I want to be successful in some way when I’m older and a key part of getting there is trying my best in my classes and through everything I do. Sophomore, Ella Kolln said, “I need to practice good work ethic now so that I can get into a good college and because of my work ethic college will be easier.” If you learn to have good work ethic early on, it will benefit you in all aspects of life. In so many cases there are students with huge aspirations in life but somehow they believe that they can still meet their goals while putting in the minimum amount of effort. I’ve noticed that students like this believe that having fun and messing around in high school won’t affect their lives in the future and with many other people, it seems like they just don’t care what their future looks like.

In the end, all that matters is that you do what you feel is necessary to achieve your goals in life. Like many other kids, I know that I will always be a driven student and feel responsible for my actions. Even though I don’t understand how people don’t have motivation and a sense of responsibility, in the end it doesn’t affect me unless I happen to end up in a group project with them. In that case, as Tommy Lu said, “Invite your group members to your funeral so they can let you down one last time.”