I just celebrated my birthday the past week, and I am officially excited to say that I am starting to enter my mid-20s. When I was a child, I thought I would have achieved a lot of milestones by my mid-20s. Well, at least I thought that I would have graduated college and finished school by now.
But at the same time, I knew, even as a child, that life doesn’t always go according to plan. No matter how much we try to plan something out, another hurdle will most likely get in the way. So, we would always have to detour and work our way around the barriers.
Looking back, I realize that my journey through life wasn’t as expected. I moved out earlier than I ever would have thought, which led me to make other unexpected decisions. Due to these circumstances, I had to juggle and adapt to the changing environment, which was often draining, especially for a young adult.
However, other than my living situation, I found it extremely difficult to decide on a specific path for my future.
I first started trying to live and grow as an artist. My initial passions were photography and drawing. And on top of that, I tried my best to enter the makeup industry.
I remember mass-applying to retail stores around my own community. I was a competitive candidate because I spent a lot of time creating my portfolio and graduating with a makeup credential.
Later, I realized that no retail store would accept me as a candidate. I was constantly getting rejections left, right, and center, with the message, “We regret to inform you, but…”
This experience itself impacted me as a person. I felt that I should give up and move on to a different field because, after all, I felt that my values and my own interests did not align well with the beauty industry.
This led me to pursue social work because I thought I would genuinely enjoy helping others since it was one of my interests.
I did gain some success in the field; I secured a few opportunities, got promoted to a supervisory role, and met amazing people passionate about the field.
But sooner or later, I realized that the field itself led me to another downfall.
Those gigs I previously secured soon were taken away from me, which happened way too quickly. Through this moment, I wondered if it was time to reroute again – I was older now, and I found it very difficult to start all over.
But I took the leap and decided that my efforts were worth it after all.
Now, I’m completing my second co-op term in my business program. I have gained new skills, learned more about myself, and found that I enjoy accounting and finance more than I would have ever expected.
I realized that if I had initially entered accounting and finance, perhaps all of the struggles and uncertainty would have been eliminated. But then I realized that life in itself is unpredictable, so it’s important to explore interests. Even though I made a few mistakes, I learned a lot along the way, which could benefit me.
Featured image via Roberto Nickson on Pexels
