Working Girl

My path into the career world has been fraught with countless obstacles. Initially, the obstacle was choosing which "career path" I wished to trod upon. As a freshman in college, I decided to veer away from engineering into the business realm. After completing my undergraduate degree, I was once again forced to changes path - I went from desiring to be a lawyer to working in the health arena. Both of these decisions were driven by my personal passions - working with people, feeling as though I was making a difference, and never wanting a mundane paper-pushing job.

In the fall of 2004, I accepted my first real position, journeying into the fundraising portion of health care. After nearly a year of working, the constant demands of portraying an "image" began to wear on me. My work was often repetitive, mundane, leaving me with little creative outlets. So I took a chance and left the safety of that job to work an UNPAID internship. It was the best decision, career-wise, that I have ever made.

It was that internship that led to my applying with my current company. And now I have position that lets me follow my passions without restrictions that are characteristic of the "corporate world." With my new company, it is my job to work with a variety of people each day - teaching them the necessary information/skills that they need in order to complete their jobs. This is a marriage of my love of people and my gift of gab. ;-)

Moreover, I have the flexibility of deciding how/when/where I work. No more typical days of clocking in at 9 and out of 5. No more cursing myself as I shimmy into my business suit. Today, I reported for work, in just jeans and tank. And the commute - ha - it was simply walking from my bedroom to the home office. Good-bye traffic!

Now, there will be times when I will be required to don the business suit and fight traffic in order to do my job. However, even in those instances I will be doing something that I am passionate about.

After a long journey, I have finally found a job that excites me. I hope that each of you is as lucky.