Money is everywhere and Vandy is certainly no exception. We have so much money pumping through this school, we had to find new uses for it: kindling toilet paper, blow tubes, etc. I know freshmen who have better entertainment systems in their dorms than my dad does. I’ve seen 19-year-olds run up $500 bar tabs and not sweat a thing.
Having lots of money is not a problem. If you came up to me with a trash bag full of unmarked twenties and said, “Make it rain,” I’d eye you cautiously then promptly go buy a Cadillac. And if you have enough of it, why not spend it? That Dom isn’t going to drink itself.
What I think is a little worrisome is the way in which a large number of people here are preoccupied with money. They brag about how much they have. They have to get the job that pays $150,000 a year right out of college. They need to break into the top law firms in New York.
And not only do a lot of people desire this, it’s almost as if they feel entitled to it. They will be making seven figures by the time they’re 35. They know they’ll be sitting next to Jack Nicholson courtside at the Lakers.
That kind of drive is admirable, it really is. But if that’s really what you want, you have to ask yourself one thing: Am I doing this for the right reasons? If you really enjoy being a lawyer and pushing paper all day, then you’re in the right place. And the world really does need investment bankers to loan people money and then profit from the hard work of others. But does it really make you happy, or are you just in it so you can install a stripper pole in the basement of your mansion? Actually, come to think of it, that does sound like a good reason ...
But seriously, money can make you do things you really don’t want to do. We see it all the time: Dustin Diamond’s sex tape, the hooker living down the street from me, Anna Nicole Smith’s marriage. But does what you’re doing really make you happy?
I don’t want to drone on, so I’m going to keep this one short. Before leaving Vandy and striking out toward the glimmering horizon full of yachts and marriage counseling, step back and think about what you’d really enjoy doing. If you’re a guy who likes snorkeling, see if you can get paid to do that. If you’re a girl who watches adult films and says, “I could do that,” call me. But whatever you end up doing, make sure it’s not just for the money. Because money can do ugly things to people, and none of us deserve to let it control our lives.
Andrew Solomon is a senior in the School of Engineering.
