“Some Lessons from the Assembly Line” by Andrew Braksma

The article, “Some Lessons from the Assembly Line” is written by Andrew Braksma. The author tells about the life-lessons he learned when he used to work in a factory during his summer vacations from school, unlike the other students. Motivation to work and the realization of the reality of life are the primary supporting points of the essay. Motivation can be of different scope, for example, verbal praise or money can motivate a person. The desire to earn some extra money and to save some money by staying at home, because staying on campus is a lot more expensive, motivated the narrator to work and get paid for working overtime. He used to work hard for 12 hours in the factory every day. Working hard in the factory and getting a little in return made him understand all the lessons about education he ever learned. Though working in the factory does not appeal to him, but he is glad for the lesson it taught him. The author complains about the meager pay in return for a great deal of exhaustion. Working in the factory made the author realize the plights of blue-collar employees. They have no job security: they may wake up someday to find out that they have no job. Therefore, long and hard working hours along with no job security and meager pay makes the employees of the factory nothing more than slaves. The narrator is of the view that slavery should not be mistaken for hard work. Working in the factory has been insightful for the author, he realized that his whole life would be like that of the slaves in the factory if he did not study. He would have to work smart, not hard to earn his living if he studied in college.