A Lifelong Process

I enrolled in a three year Business Admin college program because I didn’t think I had the smarts for university; I also didn’t have the marks but that was mostly due to the number of high school classes that I skipped. I did one semester of my program and hated it. The second semester, I switched to a certificate program, Automated Office techniques or something like that, just so the entire year wouldn’t have been a complete waste of money.

I decided to switch colleges, go far away and enrol in a different three year program, Child and Youth worker. I didn’t know anyone but that was part of the appeal. My dad helped move me, bailed me out when my car broke down and would show up unexpectantly to take me out for breakfast or shopping. One time he even came five weekends in a row.

I found college easy and couldn’t understand why others found it hard. I graduated when I was 23 and worked. But all I could get was contract job after contract job; nothing was ever permanent. Most of the contract jobs were shit work, pay and hours until I finally landed one that I really liked. Yet I still couldn’t get hired full-time permanent because I didn’t have a university degree. This was frustrating because I witnessed people fresh out of university without a clue of how to handle anything get hired full-time and I felt my years of experience should count. So I decided to go to university and get my Bachelor of Social Work.

I started full-time but later switched to part-time for two reasons: 1. I needed money which meant I needed to work and 2. I didn’t fit in. I was working days and going to school at night, with both part-timers and full-timers. But I found the kids much younger, not taking things seriously, mostly chatting on MSN and Facebook on their laptops, and likely only there because their parents paid. Truth be told, I resented them.

At this time, I continue to attend University part-time despite the challenges of managing school and work, and I have found the career I always wanted. I work full time for Social Services, a job I would have never gotten if I wasn’t attending University for a degree. The point of my story is that education is extremely important and that just because you may have made a wrong choice in the beginning, you can make better choices later on that will only help you out when searching for the perfect career for yourself.

I am currently applying to another university which has many online course options. I find living more than an hour away from the school I currently attend and working full-time to be quite tiresome, and I am ready for a slower pace now that I have a stable career. I have the necessary credentials to attend this Online University which I am very excited about.

Attending postsecondary education has not been a quick process and I continue to upgrade my education. If you start to think of education as a life long process, you won’t be in such a rush to get finished and get that job. Sometimes that job won’t come until you continue your education, but that is your choice to make.