Yvette Torres Valera
Prof.Hollis Glaser
GWS 100-1300
Throughout my senior year of high school, I worked at Applebee’s to make ends meet and have money in my pocket to get me through college. Working at Applebees has benefitted me with the amount of money I earned from minimum wage and tips from customers. However, working at Applebees, there were many problems with doing more than the minimum amount of work that I did. For example, I was initially a hostess, and then I was a server and helped pack food in the kitchen at the same time. I was only getting paid minimum wage. Honestly, I’m not sure if it had anything to do with my gender or being a woman. However, I felt speaking up about these issues was pointless since a woman that was managing that place, put me in that position of overworking. Being successful in this type of marketplace is complex. I’ve gained a lot of experience and learned how to work through pressure which is a plus for me. On the contrary, not being paid for what you’ve really worked for doesn’t sound successful. My goal for my career is to finish schooling to become a school counselor. In order to complete this goal, I must complete my associate’s degree and transfer to earn my bachelor’s degree. Then I would need to attend a graduate school for education and earn my degree. I am fairly confident in completing these goals knowing I will put the work in. I understand people’s emotions and find joy in helping other people during their times of need. As a woman, I understand the narratives that float around about not doing well in the workplace merely because of my gender, could make my career path even more difficult. However, I disagree with these ideas of inequality knowing I have to work hard to earn what I want. I wouldn’t need to work harder than men to be successful like them. Instead, I would need to work harder for myself to truly reap the benefits of education to become a master in my career to make an impact on the lives of students. The idea of a feminist economy would contradict the idea of equality. We can’t escape exploitation because people let it happen to them. For example, my failing to own up to my emotions and failing to speak up to my managers about overworking is a result of my lack of confidence and lack of education when it came to labor laws and labor as a whole. Education is what keeps people moving up and forward in life. The lack of education will only leave you out in the open as a weak-minded person. The economy relies on people with an education to earn money for profit, not gender on its own.
