In just a few days, I’ll be washing stacks of dirty dishes, wrangling toddlers, and changing countless baby diapers.
I can’t wait.
No, that isn’t sarcasm. I won’t be working a swanky internship this summer, but that’s fine with me. My past two summers of nannying have taught me more than any class or internship could about tenacity, confidence, and love in action.
All of us young people need to give manual work a try, and summer is the perfect opportunity to do so. It needn’t be your full-time job: Build a fence for your parents, mow some elderly neighbors’ lawns, take care of a friend’s toddler for the day.
Whatever form it takes, manual labor done well is an immensely rewarding break from the rigors — and blind spots — of student life and a necessary introduction to adulthood.
In an increasingly mechanized world, we risk losing…
