My names is Whitney from Everything Happens For a Reason. I'm glad that I am able to guest post for Mel. She is a fellow military spouse, and I have been following her blog for quite some time.
I want to discuss something very important; passion.
While growing up, it seemed that everyone, but me, knew what they wanted to be when they "grew up." Everyone, but me, that is. After high school, I went to college. I wanted to because a) that is what society "tells" you do and b) I wanted to be more educated.
Throughout college, I did not know what I wanted to be when I "grew up." I had no intentions of using whatever degree that I was going to pursue. I was deadset of moving to California with my boyfriend at the time to attempt to break out in the acting industry. Seriously, no joke. We both had acted in numerous independent movies and that's what I wanted to do. The only thing that I wanted to do was act. It was like I hadn't "grown" out of the "little girl" fantasy that a lot of us had as kids. In 2006, I ended the almost two-year serious relationship. Over time, my priorities changed, but I still did not know what I wanted to be. It seemed like everyone else did, except me. In 2008, graduated college in four years with two bachelor degrees. Five months after graduation, I moved to another city and lived on my own. (Where I went to college was in my hometown, and I lived within walking distance. It only made sense that I live at home).
I assumed with two bachelor degrees that I would be able to get a job. I had almost ten interviews in one week. Some of the jobs were promising, others not so much. Instead of working in the field I majored in, I went in a different direction. The job that was in the field was not what I wanted, so I obviously chose the one that seemed like the better deal. It was doing technical support for Apple. To be honest, I was embarrassed. I never told anyone where I worked. Here I was, a college graduate with two bachelor degrees, and I got a job that anyone could get. Literally, anyone can get hired there. Seriously.
I was miserable and quit about a year later. I began a temporary job and just stopped going. Cue the misery. I then began another job similar to the tech support, except it was for people's insurance, prescriptions, etc. I thought people that called into technical support were rude, but I had no idea. Guess what? I quit that job too. However, I made the decision to get my master's degree in counseling.
Two years later, I do have my master's degree, but I have no intentions of using it. I mean, I'm never going to say, never. I just don't want to now or in the near future. All throughout graduate school, I worked in the counseling/social work/human services/case management field. To make a long story short, I absolutely hated it. I hated it with every ounce of my being. I know that it is possible, that it was just the agency that I worked for all that time. There was more going on behind the scenes besides me hating it. I felt singled out, treated unfairly, and I had proof of it. When I say, singled out, I mean, if you were to do something, it would be okay. If I was to do the same thing, I would get in trouble. Another instance, I would do as I was told and then get reprimanded for doing as I was taught (For example, I would not tell clients that we could spend money on them, because some would take advantage of that. I never told clients, unless there was an instance where I could help. A client found out that I could have bought them things, they got mad, and I got in trouble. I was doing what I was taught. Then later, management would tell the employees to not tell clients we could buy them things (but yet I got in trouble). Shady, I tell you. Make sense? I hope. I wish I could go into more detail. I could tell you all some stories.
So about two weeks after graduation, I quit. I know some may think I am crazy for quitting a relatively good paying job (it was twice as much as I made in 2008). Some may think I am crazy for not having any plans of using my master's degree. It's all about choices. I don't want to be at a job that I dread going to and one that makes me miserable. I was a different person, and now I am much happier. My husband and I talked about it, and decided that we had the last straw. Basically, they were getting onto me about everything. I felt that they knew I was graduating, they wanted to get rid of me. They wanted to find anything they could to "write" me up. So, like I said, I quit.
I realized there are way more important things than money. My mental health was suffering, and I was at my breaking point. I could not take it anymore. I would scream, yell, and cry. Going through all of this, it allowed me to rediscover a hobby and passion of mine that I had forgot about; photography. I have a website (but no one can access it at this time), business cards, and everything. All of this, I have had for about three months or so, but I never have told more than a handful of people. This is something I am serious about. This is something that I want to pursue and prove to be successful.
I now have the time to regroup and concentrate on what makes me happy; photography, "me" time, silence, and time to be with my thoughts. Trust me, I was not getting that. With all this babbling, I guess what I am trying to say is, don't let anyone or anything stand in the way of your passions. You may have to discover yourself and go through many paths to discover it, but once you do, you will never want to turn back. Not everyone is born knowing what they want to do. Also, if you have a passion, don't let anyone discourage you.
It doesn't matter how you get there, it is just that you find your way there.
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