Playing Harder Than You Work

I'm sure each of us has heard the phrase, "work hard play hard" before in their lifetime. We define ourselves by how much effort we put into something and reward ourselves when we succeed. Each and every one of us has had a moment in our lives when we've felt that we deserve a treat. Whether it is celebrating after a midterm or final, or nailing an interview for a job or internship. There has been a time when we let go and become carefree.

As college students, we understand what it is like to put ourselves through days, weeks, and months of work to get the grade that we deserve. We start to enjoy napping again after pulling back-to-back all-nighters to study as much as humanly possible to get an A on a final. But when we become the legal age to drink in the United States, does alcohol become what we turn to as a reward? TV shows, movies, and even real life situations I have witnessed adults to turn to alcohol as a reason to celebrate or relax after a long day of work.

I don't think that alcohol should be mixed in the work place. As we get older we begin to move on with our lives and become part of the working class. We will graduate eventually and be tossed out in the real world to find our own way of income which can become extremely difficult if you are not prepared. My professor Dr. Laux once told me that you should never drink alcohol during an interview or any meeting with your boss, fellow employers, and certainly not an interviewer. Wise advice. You will come off as someone who will fall into the peer pressure category and maybe one day leave for happy hour with your friends and come back to work unfocused and extremely unprofessional.

I understand that my blog has come off as a fun and easy topic for college students to relate to but I want to stress that I know how to have a good time but I also know when to say no. I do not believe that it is appropriate for an employee to be drinking during a workday. I experienced something similar to this topic over the summer at my internship. I was invited by my supervisor to a staff happy hour just down the road from the office. I was the only intern who showed up to the event. It was very informal but I felt that if I did not go I would be sending the wrong message. It also put pressure on me to drink. Although I was 21-years-old at the time, it was discomforting to be the youngest employee to attend.

I encourage the entire class to continue reading my blog posts each week; however, I do not want you to get the wrong idea about me or what I believe in. I do enjoy drinking beer and I did want to pick a fun topic but now looking back on this blog I can tell that not everyone can relate to my theme and for that I am sorry. I will try my best to have posts that are educational while entertaining at the same time.