My grandmother once brought me to a construction site, as she put it, to introduce
me to the world I would face if I didn’t go to college. Some years after, while attending
VCU, I discovered a loophole in her theory because I found myself one summer working
as a construction worker anyway.
    It seemed each day as I raked steaming asphalt, a different construction worker
would find the time to sit me down and say “Son, you’ve only one chance in life, go
 to college. We didn’t, so we’re stuck here. Don’t make the same mistake we did because
playing in the dirt is only fun until it turns into work.” 
     Flash forward three years and I’m on the verge of graduating. I heeded the true
warning of my grandmother and the crew I worked with the summer of my sophomore year.
It took me awhile to figure out that what they were warning me about wasn’t that working
on a construction site as a career is anything to be ashamed about. No. It was go to college,
finish and get a degree so that when it comes time to enter the workforce you’ll be able to
make a career out of doing something you love instead of finding work you need. There’s
a profound difference between work and a career. One you do because you have to, the
other you do because you love to.
    Construction was fun for a summer but as it isn’t something I’m passionate about,
it would eventually turn into work and I would have to drag myself there every crack of
dawn for the rest of my life becoming just another American working zombie. Don't join
the undead, work towards a career.
    I'm working on a degree in Creativity and applying for a summer internship at one
of the best creativity firms around. If this isn't me doing what I love, who am I?
    Just a random story and piece of advice brought to you by Josh Davis, would-be
summer intern at Play.