Money and Me by Olivia Giralt

    I am extremely thankful and fortunate to live the life that I have. When I put into consideration what has brought me to where I am in life, I find it wild to think about how money has played such a significant role in my life.  

   Both of my parents had chosen their jobs for the money they are paid. If my parents hadn't picked the same jobs, they never would have worked in the same office. If my parents didn't work in the same office, my parents would have never met each other. If my parents had never met, I would have never been born. If my parents didn't have jobs that supported them enough to raise me, my parents would never have planned to have me. If I had never been born, I wouldn't have written this blog post, and if I hadn't written this blog post, you wouldn't be reading it.

  If my family couldn't afford to live in Sparta, I wouldn't go to Sparta High School. If I didn't go to Sparta High School, I could be attending a school that couldn't provide an education as great as Sparta High School. Without the education that Sparta High School has provided me, I might not be as motivated to succeed and go to college. If I were to attend a different school, I may never had taken the financial literacy class. If I hadn't taken financial literacy, I wouldn't be as aware or scared of the cost of being alive as a grown up.

  If my family couldn't afford to live in our house, I would live in a different house, or no house. In that case, I probably wouldn't have to be at my bus stop at 6:30 AM. But besides that, I am very lucky to have a home in the first place. I certainly do not enjoy the bus route I have, but I will always love the home that has been provided for me. If I were to live in a different home or town, I wouldn't have the same neighbors or friends. If it weren’t for the people I have become close with in Sparta, I wouldn't have many of the memories and experiences that had made me the person I am today.  

  Money takes part in practically everything. Without it, I likely wouldn't have been born. Maybe I wouldn't live somewhere as nice as Sparta, or maybe I wouldn't even have a place to call home. Who would I be without the environment that money has provided me with? Or the people it has allowed me to meet, and the experiences it has caused me to have? To me, money is so much more than a green piece of paper or coin.