I have come across a very disturbing trend not only here at Boston University, but in America, as well. It seems as if the majority of young people today want to do nothing more than “make lots of money.” What kind of thinking is that? When I hear someone respond like that when asked what they want to do later in life, I can do nothing but shake my head in disgust. All these people care about is making money and living wealthy. It boggles my mind when I think about how many young people only care about making money in life. What about doing what you want to do, regardless of the salary? I often ask myself how can one only be concerned about being rich when there is so much poverty in the world? Do they think having loads of cash will make them happy? Far too many people think about themselves and not about others.

It surprises and appalls me the way young people think these days. You ask someone what they want to do, and they’ll say teach or be a social worker, but they won’t pursue those careers because of the low salary. I look at these people in disbelief, partly because of their stupidity and partly because of how ridiculous they sound. Why is the most important factor in choosing a career how much the salary is? The most important factor should be if you love what you do or not.

Maybe the blame for this type of thinking is to be placed on the media, which glorifies celebrities, movie stars and sports figures. These people receive way too much money and get way too much recognition. We have to ask ourselves who can we do without, Julia Roberts or our high school history teacher? I, for one, couldn’t do without my ninth grade math teacher, but I could sure do without Vince Carter. We venerate the very people who should not be and don’t venerate those who should be. These people get awards and so much praise, but what do they do? All they do is entertain us. They don’t teach us anything, they don’t support us through the rough times, they don’t offer us a shoulder to cry on. Yet we put them on pedestals and praise them as if they were more than just entertainers.

When someone tells me a movie star or athlete is their role model, I think, how can they be your role model? What have they done for you but given you a movie or a game to watch? A person’s role model should not be these people. Parents and friends, not Tom Cruise or Kobe Bryant, should be one’s role model. Sadly, I do not think we will change who we idolize, and because of that, we are doomed to continue living in a superficial society where young people are mostly concerned with “making money.”