Responsibility...

I look around me today and see so many youth that are not taking responsibility for them selves. I don't understand what is going on. When you leave high school you have a few choices: get a job, go to school, or get a job and go to school. So many youth are graduating high school and then doing nothing, or they graduate go to college for a few years then graduate or quit school and come home to do nothing. When you finish school you find a job in the field you studied OR you find any job (and keep looking for one in the field you studied).
There is another option after high school I didn't mention because for most it's not really an option, you could go the route I went. You get married to a wonderful man who can find and maintain a job that can support your family. I'm old fashioned, I believe that the man should work and the woman should stay home and raise the children, so a family should do everything they can to get to a point that they can do that.
When I graduated from High School I was already engaged to a wonderful man. We both knew that I was going to stay home and raise our children, but we also knew that we didn't have children yet and weren't having them until after we got married. Both of us got jobs, not the best jobs and they were only summer jobs, and Adam started school.  After that Adam got a job painting (still in school) while I began work at an oil testing lab. He later joined the company I was with and still continued his education in night school. A year into school (and one year before graduating) he got a job in his field of study, a job he maintains to this day. After that I was able to quit working for the oil testing lab and search full time for a new job, as Adam's job could support our family. I ended up working a few weeks at a call center, then I got a job as a receptionist and for an assisted living home. The assisted living home was only for 2 months so I kept working that at night while I worked days as a receptionist. All this time Adam and I tried to start a family. We decided finally that the drive to have a family was stronger then my need to work so I stopped working,  ideally we wanted to start our family and me to stop working to be almost the same time, but it didn't work out that way.
Now days I work full time at home, I don't have a job I get paid for but I love the job I have. I am a homemaker. I take care of our child (and eventually children), I keep the house clean, I cook dinner every night for my husband, I manage all our money, and generally I make it possible for us to accomplish things that seem impossible. My wonderful husband still works and now attends school at night again so that he can attain another degree and advance in work to a better job that will support a larger family easier. This is the way I personally think it should be, I feel it is a wonderful set up that everyone should strive to attain. I know that if you work hard and just set to a goal you can and will accomplish it. When I stopped working things were very tough, we didn't know how to live on one income yet. Then we were blessed with a wonderful child and still we hadn't yet perfected. Today I can say we are living this life very comfortably. We live on a tight budget and sometimes have to scrimp to save, but we are building a reserve. This life is not something we wish we could do, it is a choice we made and then found ways to accomplish it, we had to be responsible. It is a wonderful life that everyone can attain, but you must take it upon yourself to make the right choices and stand by your actions.