UNIV-2001

Lele Chen
1880110

WORK IS RESPONSIBILITY

We live in a modern society where girls are becoming financially and ideologically

independent. I feel privileged to be born in this age. Hence, I am willing to become one of the

hardworking and independent women of this modern society who has her own business, and

who does philanthropy in the society she lives. In this paper, I would like to share my

thoughts on the meaning of work. For me, the meaning of work is contributing to the lives of

my clients and customers through my highest quality products and services and giving them

high standard of life. For me, the meaning of work is doing a work from where I can derive a

high standard of living for myself and my family; doing a work which gives me and my

family financial freedom; and doing a work which allows me derive sense of meaning and

purpose.

Canada is a multicultural country, and I love this country so much because I can meet

diverse people from different countries and learn about various cultures. China is an ancient

country with 5000 years of history, and people still keep some old traditional thoughts until

today. For example, no matter in which country Chinese people reside, they still work hard

tremendously and save money to buy a house because they feel the need for security provided

only by owning a house.

When I was young, my parents worked outside of the town, and they only came back

home a few times a year. I was growing up with my older brother who had a big impact on

my life. My brother was an art student when he was in university, and he loved music. I

thought he would choose a work related to the arts after he graduated from the university.

However, he became a salesman in a medical company which is located quite far away from

my hometown. I was surprised when my mother told me about his choice and I could not wait

to ask him the reason for choosing profession in sales. At that time, he was 24 years old. I can

still remember what he replied to me. He said, “It is time for me to think about marriage now.
 UNIV-2001
Lele Chen
1880110

I need a stable job with a good income. Then I can feed my own family later. Whether I like

or dislike the job is irrelevant.” The lesson I learned from him that day was that everyone has

their duties such as duty to work and take care of family. Thus, being responsible is not an

option. As a matter of fact, responsibility is much more important than happiness. To me, it

seems that my brother found meaning in responsibility of taking care of his family through

doing sales work.

Many people ask me what kind of job I want to engage in the future and my answer is

“I want to have my own business.” I have realized over the years that this answer of mine

never changes. Concurrently, I put this dream in deep down of my mind, and I am working

hard towards the owning of my own business and preparing for it. The reason I choose to be a

businesswoman is I want to become an economically independent woman who has a strong

sense of responsibility to myself and my family. With strong personal financial freedom, I

can give my parents a better life, I can send my children to attain highest quality education,

and I can contribute to society as much as I can.

I have been lucky because people around me always help me without asking anything

in return. In the future, I want to do the same thing to other people just like how my family

and friends have helped me because I want to have a meaningful life. The meaning of living

lies in the act of giving.

When I get my degree from FDU, instead of thinking about what kind of jobs I ‘want’

to do, I will think about what type of jobs I ‘can’ do because I need to survive first and save

the capital money for my future company. Life never has a shortcut, and I do believe any

successful businesswomen must put a lot of effort behind her enterprise. I am looking

forward to overcoming all the difficulties, and no matter how tough the challenges are, I

won’t give up until I achieve my goals.

 UNIV-2001
Lele Chen
1880110

These days some people are fortunate to choose the work they like but most people

have no choice because they need to survive. Some people work because they got bills to pay

and mortgages to handle. It is vital to have a meaningful life which is attained by being

responsible for our family such as giving them a security, and help as many as people we can.

Therefore, having a stable job with a good income is more important than having a job we

like with low income. The meaning of work is responsibility. A person must be responsible to

put herself through training and acquiring of education and skills so that she can get highly

paying stable job and thereby she can take care of her parents and family which will be

meaningful for her.