Part three: I'm an administrative assistant.
I spent a good deal of my life not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up. I graduated high school without many goals and therefore didn't really try very hard to be the best I could be. I went to University right after because that's what you did after you graduated high school. I didn't really think about it. I took some religious studies courses because I found them interesting, not really thinking what one would do with a major in religious studies. Teach? After two years of university I realized that I wasn't going anywhere. My marks weren't great and I wasn't pushing myself.
Then I got a bit a bit sick. Hidden diseases are the worst, because you feel bad, but you can't really explain them to anyone. My symptoms slowly got worse. To tell the truth, they probably started in grade 7 or 8. Tired, uninterested, and unhappy, I was 20 years old and feeling like crap. It took me a couple of years to finally get a diagnoses from a doctor. A year or two after that until I finally started feeling healthy again. So for four years I was unemployed and unhappy. Broke and living off my parents, most people didn't even believe there was much wrong with me in the first place. Most thought I was just being lazy.
After I started feeling better I had a decision to make. Would I go get a minimum wage mcjob somewhere or go back to school? My parents were willing on letting me mooch off of them for a couple of more years so I did some research. I didn't want to go back to university so I started checking out the local colleges. One of the bigger ones here seemed pretty nice and as a bonus was on my bus route! It seems silly looking back on it that that was one of the deciding factors. I wondered what I would want to do with my life. I had no experience, I was shy, I never did that well in school before, and I had no interests yet as to what program to take. Welding? Arts and textiles? Computer science? I gave some thought as to what work would be in those fields. Welding would be fun as I love creating things, but it would be hard, manual work that I would have to leave the province to get a job in. Arts and textiles would be well suited for my love of crafts, but where would I find a job in that unless I was completely dedicated to it? Computer science would be easy for me to learn, but I'd just get stuck somewhere in IT asking if people have tried turning it off and back on again. I looked through all of the programs offered while considering where I could see myself working.
So in September, 2010, six years after I graduated high school, I started the two-year Office Administration program at my local college. I could see myself working in an office, answering phones, filing, greeting people as they came to the door. I'd been to enough doctor's offices to see their secretaries doing the work. It's repetitive enough that you could file and fax and do the same work every day while still being engaging enough to keep you interested day in and day out.
And I loved it. The program was wonderful. The teachers were great. I quickly made new friends. I received great marks and realized my brain had healed since I had been sick so I could remember things a lot more than when I was in university. I was interested and payed better attention. I started volunteering with a charity through the college. I finished the first year with a 4.0 GPA and received a job opportunity with the volunteer organization for the summer in their office. I loved working in that office. Where else could you fax things off one minute and have to dress up in face paint for a fundraising event the next? And after I received wonderful references from the organization for use on my resume.
The second year I had the choice to pick what area to specialize in. I took my time to decide again. My friends all went in the other categories and I took medical. My family and myself had been through the medical system for me to find the whole thing fascinating and familiar. I received a scholarship in the first few months. The instructor was amazing and she thought I was amazing. I found medical terminology and anatomy to be easier than I expected. I finished my final of my final exams. After a six week workterm, I graduated with honors and an award for having the highest marks in the class.
This is all foreign to me. I've never been the best at anything, especially school. I didn't think it was possible to enjoy work as much as I do. It's a perfect mix of things I'm good at and things I like to do. My resume looks amazing and it's so wonderful to feel pride in my accomplishments.
At first I was "hired" as a casual, on-call employee for the government healthcare corporation here. I didn't have any guaranteed hours, but I filled in for secretaries who were on vacation or who called in sick. The pay was good and I could apply for internal positions within the system.
After only three months of working in different positions I was offered an interview for a job in an internal department. I went in confident and a week later I received the call that I got the job! It was only for one year covering someone on maternity leave, but it was a step up and would look great on my resume. After the first year I received another year extension and some extended responsibilities. And finally, after two years were up, I somehow managed to snag a permanent position in the department with even more responsibilities, working in management with the director of the department.
I'm officially employed after years of sickness and unemployment. I don't have a negative bank balance anymore. Best of all, I finally know what I want to be when I grow up. I've accomplished it and am proud to be where I am.
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