From the very start of high school I was adamant I wanted to be an architect because I had an absurd fascination with houses and their structures. By year 11 I was sure I was going to be a school teacher, I even did a week's work experience as an Art Teacher at a high school on the Sunshine Coast. It was boring, and art is so subjective which I didn't feel suited someone so opinionated. So when it came time to apply for uni courses I had no fucking idea. (Don't even mention the idea of not going to uni, because that was never going to happen. I was always going to uni, I just didn't know what I was going to do.) So I did what anyone (and it seems everyone) did in this predicament, found the most general courses and applied for them! For anyone not in the know, they are Arts and Business degrees (Science students loved to make fun of us).
I have always been incredibly inquisitive. Even now, if someone uses a word in conversation that I haven't heard before or that I don't know the meaning of, I'm first to ask "what does that mean?" Either that or I whip out my crackberry and google it. So it didn't take long to find a little direction and I started off taking journalism subjects because I thought I'd make a great sports reporter. Around this time PR was becoming increasingly popular (they even introduced a major in it by the time I graduated) so I took a few of those classes too. My grades in the PR subjects were abolishing those in journalism, and to top it off one day a journalism tutor told me if I wanted to break into the industry I'd need to be prepared to work 100 hour weeks, get paid peanuts, and have no life, for at least a few years. Um, okay... Call me Gen Y here but no thanks! A few months after that I started dating a sports person who was dead against me being a journalist. Mind made up. Weak I know, but when I'm in love I'll move mountains. Or move to Sydney, as I did.
Changing universities isn't easy but I managed to find a loophole called Cross-Institutional Study which meant that I didn't have to transfer my entire degree and risk losing some subjects being counted. It meant that I completed subjects at the new university and the grades were sent back to my host university. All I had to do was write a letter to the Head of Faculty and plead my case. If you know me, you know how convincing I can be.
In the last six months of my degree I did an internship and, at the end of the internship an Admin/PR Assistant role came up. The Owner/Director said it was mine if I wanted it, but that in her opinion I'd get bored and I needed/deserved more. I love her to this day for giving me that advice and confidence.
After this I struggled to find a job. I don't pity all of the young ones out there hoping to crack into the industry. I had a degree and was incredibly determined and even I found it difficult. I had a job offer in Brisbane but was at least a year into a relationship that I really didn't want to end. I told my boyfriend I was giving myself one month and if I didn't get a job I'd move back to Queensland short term until I had some more experience.
Less than two weeks later I had landed it. On one condition. That I lose my "Queensland accent". WTF? Haha it was quite funny at the time. I wasn't aware I HAD a Queensland accent. What WAS a Queensland accent? Well now I know. From that point it was onward and upward.
Going back to my intro... I think we will find satisfaction. In everyday happiness. Once we stop putting the pressure on ourselves to fit everything we think we are capable of into the one lifetime, we'll learn to appreciate what we have achieved already. And arguably more importantly, the people we love and have had the privilege of sharing our lives with on the journey.
What a great post.
ReplyDeleteVery inspiring to remember to keep moving forward to where we want to be :)