How to not feel bad making half as much as my friend does?
I met up with an old friend today, and she told me she got a raise that bumped her up to like $96k. This puts her over twice my salary of $47k. I was happy for her in the moment, but now that I'm home and reflecting, I'm realizing that I'm really envious.
But, like, realistically, I can't feel like I earned that money. She works in legal finance after finishing her business degree in three years, and has switched jobs several times when it made sense for her. I took four years for my degree (communications sciences and disorders), and I currently work as a teacher's assistant. I haven't switched because the job is close to my house and basically has competitive pay and good benefits for my position anyway.
I also have saved enough up for grad school that I'll be starting in the fall, so in a few years I'll make a little more, but realistically I still won't see my friend's salary for several years after I graduate. It's just hard because my friend is so smart and a hard worker and she absolutely deserves this. I just keep finding myself feeling like I'm not smart enough or working hard enough, even though logically I know the money isn't really there like that in the educational field anyway.
Posted Jun 30, 2026, 2:36 AM UTC