Hi,
Welcome to TalkBack Thursday! Today’s going to be more of a
personal post. I flew back to Sydney on Tuesday night for my Graduation 2.0 on
Wednesday. I love graduations because you truly don’t get to attend many of
those in your life. It’s really a celebration of what you have achieved and it
represents all the hard work you have put in over the years. I always get
really inspired by the speeches and I think of all the possibilities for the
future. While this is all nice and good, it also reminds me that I have to fly
back to Melbourne five hours after the ceremony and wake up the next day and go
to work.
Although I don’t hate my job, I don’t exactly love it either.
Let me tell you a little a bit about my “professional” history. I graduated
from high school not knowing what I wanted to do except that - I couldn’t be a
doctor or lawyer (didn’t have the brains… and I’m kind of scared of blood); I
didn’t want to do commerce or science (too nerdy...); I wasn’t allowed to do
arts (not ‘prestigious’ enough) and I HAD to go to university. So, in the end,
I chose to do Architecture. It was the worst three years of my life.
Being a Taurean I am fairly stubborn so once I had decided
to embark on a Bachelor of Architecture I was not willing to let anything or
anyone (including myself) get in the way of me finishing this degree. I never
failed anything because if I did, I knew I’d just have to do it again and it
would be twice as painful. My goal was not to excel but to simply graduate so I
would never have to present another project to a group of pretentious
architects again. I always said I would never work in architecture because I
hated it, much to the disappointment of my parents who thought a female
architect was the coolest thing ever. To be fair, I didn’t hate my entire
degree. I liked history and theory and even did it as an elective. I did well
in a photography elective which was fun. I wasn’t alone in hating structure and
construction because it was all unnecessarily complicated maths and we’re not
civil engineers so we really couldn’t care less how the building stands up as
long as it looks pretty rendered. As for design, well I had pretty crap tutors
in the first three semesters who had no idea and just gave no constructive feedback.
I had better tutors in the last three semesters and it showed in my marks as
well as my emotional attitude towards design. Overall, architecture just really
did my head in and while the work is not hard (like brain surgery is hard…) it
takes a lot of passion and dedication (and insomnia) to really do well. Guess I
just wasn’t cut out for it.
So, onto degree #2 which was a Master of Art Administration.
Most people have no idea what that is and I don’t blame them. To be an Art
Administrator is to be a curator, marketing manager, sales, office support,
event planner, coordinator, graphic designer, client services … whatever you
need to be at that instant to make sure the show/festival/event/exhibition goes
on. In my final semester I was working fulltime (and then some), studying full
time and writing a research paper (which was really neglected but I got a
fairly good mark considering…) I was ‘stressed’ but I was never stressed
because I was always enjoying what I was doing.
You’d think this was the answer to all my problems…but no. Jobs
in the arts are hard to come by (not impossible) and they don’t pay very well (to
be totally honest). So, when I up and moved to Melbourne I thought it was time
to find a real job so I could complain about hump day and look forward to
Fridays like everyone else. I thought it was okay to hate your job as long as
you were being paid the big bucks (and by big bucks I mean more than the
checkout chick at Woolies…) Oh how wrong I was. Like I said, I don’t totally
hate my job. I just hate not having the freedom of working as much as I want
when I want and not working at all when I don’t (the joys of being a casual)
and I hate not being able to see and experience the fruits of your labour (as
you do when you work at a festival).
… Now that I’ve told you my whole life story, I’d love to
know where you are in life “professionally”. Are you still in school? Have you
graduated? Love your job? Hate your job? ‘In-between jobs’ aka unemployed (the
best kind of employed!)? Are you in your perfect career? Have no idea?
I’m interested to know, so Talk Back at me in the comments
below!
Don't forget to enter my Aphelia Skincare Giveaway: here!
x peachsbeauty
Thanks for reading! Holla at me:
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Loved reading your story! I'm currently in university studying and am kind of nervous already about the fact that once I'm finished I will have to look for a job. Not because I don't want to work but because I want to ENJOY where I work (like you mentioned) and it sounds like something hard to come by :) x
ReplyDeleteThanks Jordy! I've learnt (and am still learning) that it's best to find a job that you enjoy even if you have to make sacrifices. At the moment, I just have to live with the current situation but I know that for next time I won't be making the same mistake (:
ReplyDeleteGood luck with everything! Love your videos btw. x
I'm at university studying pharmacy and I'm currently in my 3rd year! I love the course albeit it is challenging with a lot of tedious aspects (microbiology, bore!) but the people make it worthwhile and I love learning about pharmacology and chemistry, which will sound tremendously boring to most other people :P The course does allow me to become a pharmacist and I'm thinking of doing hospital pharmacy instead of community (retail) which everyone does, as I've been working part time in one for 2 years already and I know how it's like! Great to hear your story too and good luck for your future :)
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