When I was confused in middle school, the people around me told me not to worry, that I would figure things out after high school. I figured they were right. I mean, there’s no way anyone knows what they want to be in the future at age 13. Right?

Then high school came. It was now that I started to get a better idea of my academic strengths and weaknesses. Science came easy to me, so I loaded up on chemistry and biology classes. English was my favourite subject by far, but I actually failed it twice, back to back. Math, history, geography and religion were cool, but not enough to peak my interest. In my final year, I completed a four month co-op in a grade 4 classroom, helping with French and English. But after reading my final evaluation, my hopes of potentially being a teacher were down the drain. Just lovely! By graduation, I still had a solid plan for what I would do the following year, as long as it didn’t include coming back for a 5th year.

At 18, while most of my peers went off to pursue post secondary education, I was making a decent wage working full time. The majority of people in my graduating class grew up in a two parent household, a support system, with an outline to follow. Me, on the other hand, I had my own apartment by grade 10 and made my own decisions based on my adolescent knowledge. However, there was always part of me that knew I would join them, eventually.

After a year, I took a leap and applied to Humber College for a Pharmacy Technician program, which was waitlisted. By mid September, I made the executive decision to take the only Science based program with open seats, Chemical Laboratory Technician. I did well, but couldn’t make it through most of the second semester math classes. So by next fall, I transferred to another program; Biotechnology Technician. It was loaded with classes like organic and analytical chemistry, cell biology and biochemistry, and I loved every moment of it. After graduating and working for a year, it was evident that I would be capped at a pretty low wage, so I went back to school. This time to take Civil Engineering Technology. What’s that you ask? It’s construction sciences, and a prof recommended it after looking through my previous grades. He insisted, “It’s the perfect fit for you!” I enjoyed every aspect of this program, as it was a good balance between desk work and field work. Matter of fact, I graduated and landed full time employment the very next week. I was so motivated !

The first few months in my position went well, but then the confusion came back. I started to think about the other things I could possibly be good at, and everything I was missing out on by being stuck doing the same 4 tasks for the rest of my days. This went on for about a year before I threw in the towel, and walked away from my job, with absolutely no plan. I was desperate to figure out a plan b, and convinced it had nothing to with sitting silent at a desk for 8 hours a day.

I had bills coming in, with no savings, and absolutely no income lined up. Scary times. One day, about a week into being unemployed, I found a posting on Indeed that was looking for a brand ambassador to represent a popular cheese company. I applied, and got a request for an interview the same day, via skype. Of course I was hired on the spot, (because I’m awesome), and in my first shift I made $20 an hour to stand in a grocery store and offer a sample of cheese to people as they passed by. There was no pressure to make a sale, no deadlines, and the biggest requirements were to know the product, have a bright smile and a friendly attitude. I went on to work for this company, in similar roles, on a flexible schedule, for the next two years.

The moral of this is that no amount of education, and no number of salary could supplement for happiness. If you are confused with what to study or major in, then take a step back and explore jobs in different industries before going to school. Figure out what comes naturally to you and what you could be happy doing for an extended period of time. Like… for the next 45 years, before you retire.

Although, I have no regrets because I do have a set of specific skills that wont expire, and I could always fall back on them. It would have saved me a lot of time, money and energy had I not fed into my confusion and waited. However, I was relieved that I didn’t wait 10 or 20 years of being miserable before I made a change.

Can you relate ? What’s your story?

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