TOEFL® essay: To work for fun, or to work for a lot of money

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TOPIC: It is more important to work at a job that you enjoy, than it is to earn a lot of money.

This is a fantastic statement and I absolutely agree with it. Why we should earn a lot of money, when we won’t have the time to spend them. So this is the reason for which most people should work to have fun and not to receive 6 digits salary.

I think here is the right place to mention a very popular Bulgarian saying:” when you do your favorite job, you never actually work”. Don’t you think it is right? In fact – it is! For example, all sportsmen are really happy people. First, whole life they do what they love most – sports. Meanwhile, they also receive very good salaries. Fortunately, they are able to combine the joy of working with getting a huge salary. People like them are very rare in the World, but it is not impossible to achieve.

However, there also exists other kind of people for who money is everything. Their only desire is to work for money, so they even don’t get any pleasure from working. Sometimes they are even frustrated from their work. I don’t understand those people who prefer to work under a huge pressure and finally they have millions, but they cannot go for a walk with their families or just spend 2-3 hours playing football. In my opinion, this is not a normal life. In life everything is meant to be done for fun and with love. This is why even ancient Greeks have said that money is not a target in life.

Another side of the question is related with the salary. For instance if your favorite work is to be a hair-dresser, but you receive very small amount of money, you will need to find another job to survive. The meaning of this example is that working for fun and pleasure does not guarantee always good revenue and sufficient funds to live well. For this reason I really want to work as a banker. First, it’s a very prestigious work and involves daily contacts with hundreds of people from the same branch. This occupation also demonstrates a high level life standard. On the other hand I’ll have the possibility to receive very good salary, which will guarantee that I’ll live normally and that I’ll be able to afford a lot of things.

In conclusion, I would like to summarize that people should always try to combine fun from doing your favorite work and in the same time trying to earn money for a normal life.

TOEFL listening lectures: A lecture from a social science class