In ancient Greek mythology, King Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. Unfortunately, his “golden touch” transformed his food into precious metals and his daughter into a priceless statue. Midas’ unceasing wealth obsession resulted in a loss of relationships and disenchantment with his creations. 

Today, money allows us to obtain items like food, entertainment and charity. But when students focus only on the means and forsake the ends, they may lose the ability to enjoy their earnings. Students should consider their values and choose majors that enable them to fulfill personal goals. 

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Art Markman, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and professor of marketing, psychology and human dimensions of organization, attributes workplace happiness to the alignment of one’s values and career. 

“If I feel good about what I’m accomplishing in my life and how it relates to my own values … we’re really talking about this longer term overall satisfaction,” Markman said. “If you’re doing it because you think it’s going to get (you) to a place that will allow (you) to live a life that will satisfy (you), then you essentially are mortgaging the present for the future.” 

Although students’ values will likely shift throughout their lives, pursuing majors reflective of current values can enable fulfillment.

Stockpiling wealth falls short of satisfaction. Wealthier people, even millionaires, often feel insecure compared to their even wealthier neighbors. The added exhaustion of competing for ever-higher paying job positions further dilutes self-satisfaction.

Plan II and social work freshman Shana Richards explained that fulfilling her passions through social work brings her joy. 

“It’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make – if I make less money, but I can do something where I feel like my strengths are getting put to good use for the rest of society,” Richards said. “I can do something that makes me happy.”

Like Richards, biochemistry freshman Thao Thai also wishes to utilize her career for personal happiness. However, she hopes to do this outside of a nine-to-five workday. 

Thai has found herself increasingly responsible for her economic future since she immigrated to the U.S. Despite her dreams of being a fashion designer, pursuing dentistry provides Thai a sturdier financial foundation. But she still plans to build a life spent fulfilling her primary passion: travel. 

“I’m responsible with my life,” Thai said. “Do I want a job that I like, or do I want a job that I can make money with and then do whatever I like later on? I want to use money to experience everything else – explore my emotions and knowledge.”

While circumstances often prevent a perfect alignment of career and interest, students can still reconsider whether they know what they truly want. Honing one’s purpose provides hope and motivation for those shouldering intense workloads.

Pressured to choose a “correct” career, students may feel incapable of determining their passions and purpose. But college provides the perfect atmosphere to test and contemplate diverse values. 

“We want to create a space that allows students to explore their values, without prescriptively being told what those should be,” Markman said. “You’ve had 18 years of inculturation: from your community, your family, from religious organizations, from other sources of information that have suggested value to you. We create this four year experience of exploring ‘who am I?’”

Tompkins is a Plan II and English freshman from Dallas, Texas.