The coins tip out as if in slow motion, one by one clinking onto the bench.
Trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my heart, I imagine a whole piggy bank full of coins to the brim, sunlight reflecting off the drops of gold ...
Five coins fall out. My
imagination disappears, reality pulling me into its embrace.
It is funny how I used to check my little piggybank at least three times a day, when I was a mere 8-year-old.
But then again, why wouldn't we dream of becoming rich if the money could buy almost anything that we could get our sweaty little hands on?
The chocolate bars from the dairy, the latest games, being retired from school with no tests for the rest of our lives ... But the big foolish grin on my face quickly disappeared when I asked myself how I was going to get all the money.
I had next to nothing. Thus my first realisation arrived: getting rich involves hard work.
Washing the dishes results in pocket money. Mowing the lawn requires more work so more pocket money.
I had it all worked out. Everything followed the pattern. More work equals more money.
I felt proud of myself, knowing that sooner or later my dreams would come true.
From an early age, I was misled to believe that the only way of becoming rich (and ultimately achieve my dreams) was to work, work and work.
Not to mention this being emphasised a million times by my ambitious parents.
As I got older and started to think about my career pathway, as expected, my parents wanted me to work hard in school, find a "good" job so that I could earn money and be financially secure.
Naturally, the two notorious jobs popped up - doctor and lawyer.
The theory was that doctors and lawyers are high-paying jobs that will not give the worker a hard time worrying about being broke.
To encourage me, they tempted me with some of the dreams I had. You could easily buy all of those things, Jenny, they said.
That was all very well.
But I became afraid. What if I didn't like the job? Even if they were high-paying jobs, the work still needed to be done. I would slave away each day, suffering boredom and unhappiness just to earn money.
It's outrageous. However, at that time, with constant nagging from family, there really did seem to be no other way out.
I saw one of my friends being under extreme pressure from her family to study medicine at university, when all she wanted to do was become a famous musician. She wanted to share her love of music with others and play at Carnegie Hall.
This really saddened me and made me think if people have the determination to follow their interests and do well, earning a reasonable income, why not let them?
Parents are afraid, afraid that taking the risk of heading towards a less stable job would make their children bankrupt.
But if we loved the job we were in, surely we would be working hard to achieve our goals, thus earning income. If a flautist really wanted to play at Carnegie Hall, and she did, the publicity would grant her an income far greater than a doctor's.
Even if she didn't manage to achieve her goal, her efforts may be rewarded with being upgraded to a lecturer at university in a few years, yielding more money.
Which would be better, waking up each morning to eternal boredom and discontent, or waking up happy and eager to do the one thing you love?
Who cares if you are earning an average income if you are happy the way it is?
We should follow our own dreams and not our parents' dreams.
Money doesn't make the world go round, and perhaps we should think twice about the values we deem most important.
Being rich isn't about the amount in our wallet.
Real riches are being happy, having close friends and a loving family and enjoying our lives.
I don't have to be a doctor or a lawyer if I don't want to. I don't have to be forced to do something just because it has a higher pay rate.
I still have three years to decide to do something I will love.
But one thing I have decided.
My piggybank will never be overflowing with money earned with regret.
Jenny Cao, Year 11, St Cuthbert's College
