She works hard for the money

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. ~Thomas Jefferson

I was thinking today about the effort put into working hard for something you want. You can see it a lot in my classes I teach. The kids who put at least 90% and hopefully 100% into their work are very easy to pick out. They answer the questions first and understand things better. They are better at (in Korean schools it's mostly memorization) thinking for themselves as well. I love when people think for themselves, what they want and get it by working hard.

In college there are those classes you can skip a few times, half-ass the homework, maybe study an hour for a test and get a B. Although I will say I'm really good at retaining information so I never really had to study too much if I went to class.

It's just interesting that now in the real world, work ethic really carries over. Southern women (my grandmother who is from Charleston is a great example) are notorious for their work ethic. She was always asking how my grades were if I had a job or was doing what I had to do to make if for myself. And for that I'm ever so grateful. she, herself raised seven children and now is lucky enough to have 19 grandchildren.

Of course, there is that whole Southern Belle ideal why do something when you can get someone else to do it? But didn't Scarlett in the end roll up her sleeves to get the plantation running again? exactly. Southern women have a spirit in them that I really haven't ever seen in others. I'm so glad to have strong proud women around me who have taught me to work my butt off for what I want. Without that inspiration I would never have gotten a job out of college in the field I wanted, I never would have become an All-American athlete or went out on a limb to come here to Korea.

I love that yes, even though there are trust fund babies and people who always get what they want there are also always going to be people like Warren Buffet and Thomas Paine who have always valued effort over gifts. That alone makes me feel I'll be able to achieve anything.