Working Mommy Wednesday, again

I’m back and refreshed from a visit to one of my favorite places on earth. That's why I went a whole week with nothing. More on that soon.

For now, however, I’m linking up to Julia again for Working Mommy Wednesday. This week, she gave two choices:
#1. Brag about you... an accomplishment at work, the huge amount of funds you raised for that big project, the fact that you're the talk of the office because of your sense of fashion or your bubbly personality. Here's your chance to brag about you!

#2. When I grow up... when you were little, what did you always want to be when you grew up?

Maybe I’ll combine the two a bit. When I was little (and now), I had a lot of career ideas. The problem with all of them is that I seem to have an aversion to any career that makes money. I have considered, and still do on occasion, social work or teaching, and I have had a pretty good career in journalism. All of those things require a degree, and none of them alone could sustain a family above the poverty level.
I don’t think the problem is that I dislike money. I think the problem is that I really want to do something that makes a difference. And in our society, the jobs that make a difference, that I argue are some of the most important, pay the least.
I will never understand why a CEO of a large corporation is so wealthy and the social worker who makes sure children are in safe homes with enough to eat barely survives above the poverty line. Why is it that teachers, who are making sure the next generation is capable of leading us into the future, have to rely on government aid to receive health insurance for their children, and professional athletes have giant mansions with dozens of cars? The teachers at my kids’ daycare have associate degrees in early childhood development, and they could make more money working at a fast-food joint.
In our society, we tend to believe that to be successful, you have to work hard and be dedicated to what you do. But we don’t attach a salary based simply on how hard someone works.
Professional athletes work hard, without a doubt. They have unique hurdles, such as being forced to lead their lives in a public arena. But do they work that much harder than the teacher who comes early and stays late with a child who just doesn’t understand a concept and gets no help at home, or the high school coach who uses his own hard-earned money so one of his athletes from a low-income family can have appropriate shoes to wear? Do they work harder than the newspaper reporter who sits up late at night writing stories that shed light on the injustices shown to people who have no voice? Or, do they work harder than the cashier who has to work two jobs to put food on the table for her children?
I wish, in our world, salaries were paid based on how much someone’s job affects our lives and benefits our future. Recently, our state legislature asked local districts to cut teacher pay — our teachers’ salaries are already 41st in the nation. One lawmaker said it was the best way to cut in a fiscal emergency because “teachers don’t teach for the money.”
Well, of course they don’t. We don’t pay them enough to do it for the money. But should we take advantage of people who enjoy their job because they care about the people they help?
For 10 years, I worked in journalism and I absolutely loved it, but I didn’t like the direction the field was heading. So now I work in public relations for higher education. Do I like it? Yes. Do I feel like my job is as important as it was? I think it’s important, but maybe not as directly.
I am still working for something I believe in — I think higher education is vital to the future of our world, and I want to be a part of helping keep talented students in our state so they can succeed. I guess, regardless of income, that’s still what’s most important.