I didn't always want to become a photographer. In fact, I spent a very long time not knowing what I wanted to do. A problem that most young people suffer from.
I went to college, simply because it was the next step that everyone else was taking. I chose a number of subjects that were vaguely interesting, but no where near where my real passions truly lied. I completed a solid year, then by the time my second year came round I was disheartened with the education system and with the lessons that I was learning. It became clear that I was running down the wrong road.
Then my college hit us with university applications. 'Ugh', was all that I could think. I knew instantly, with a sickening lurch of my stomach, that I didn't want to be going anywhere near a university. I imagined myself alone in a dorm room somewhere far from home and my friends cursing myself for going to university. And, yes, I know friends who have felt just such a feeling and who had hated all three years of their courses.
I discovered a very interesting thing. Educational institutions have no structure built into their systems should you decided to break from the norm. Because I didn't want to go to university meant that all of my teachers started to label me as a waster, and one of them even said that I was going to 'waste my life.' If anything, that gave me even more drive to prove them wrong.
I found a paralegal job and dropped out of college to pursue it. Unfortunately, regardless of the copious notes, professional manner and dress, I didn't get the job. I then experienced the stresses of job seeking, and the terrible pain that occurs when you finally realise that you must succumb to external pressure and take a job you know you're going to hate. I returned to work in a local supermarket.
I worked there for two months and then took a night-shift job on their chilled foods aisle. It was mildly interesting for a few weeks, but then I quickly realised that I couldn't adjust to the sleeping pattern, my bodily functions went haywire and I didn't see a single person I knew for about four months.
It was on a single night, when I was the only person in the department, that I had a mild breakdown. I started thinking about where I'd gotten myself. I had practically no qualifications, no real experience, and I was working at 2AM in a career cul-de-sac. I called a good friend of mine at the time and asked her advice. She asked me 'what are you good at', and after some thought, 'well I'm consistently good at photography.' 'Well,' she said, 'then maybe you should be a photographer.'
It took me time to realise what my dream was, but once I uncovered it, my passion for photography shone through.
Are you driving down the right road? Maybe it's time to take the next junction and get on the highway to your dream.
Labels: bio, career, dreams
