Redefine The American Dream Pt. 6 - College Pt. 2
This is part two of mini series on College. You may want to read part one if you have not done so already.
This is also part six of our American Dream series. Read parts one, two, three, four, and five to get the full story.
Last week we left off with a score board of QUIT 5 and I do not believe we had an opponent in place, but I would say “Possible Career Path” ZERO. So let’s do a quick review and then we’ll get on with it.
- I Attended one semester of college right out of high school but quit before continuing to the second semester
- Then I took up flying lessons but quit that when money got tight and I was not getting along with my instructor
- While taking flying lessons I was also working for a local eBay consignment shop, but I grew tired of this very quickly and quit on June 10th, 2006
- June 12, 2006 I started working at Purpose 1, Inc. as their Logistical Coordinator and Warehouse Manager, but after a mini nuclear war (more in my head then in reality) I quit this right before getting married in July of 2007.
- My dad has his own business, had the work, and paid me a fair price, so I started painting houses with my dad. January of 2008 rolled around and I quit that too.
So there we have our score board of QUIT with a score of 5. Possible Career Path came up with ZERO, but is it really that bad. Is quitting all of these things after not going to college, a BAD thing? Before you answer that, let’s continue this story of QUITTING.
So after telling my dad that I quit, I was without work, and subsequently without pay. We had a good size savings account and Lindsay was cleaning houses three times a week which brought in a good amount of extra income. I figured that with the money we had in savings and the money she was bringing in, I had some time to really go after a job I would absolutely LOVE.
Long story semi-short, after a few days of relaxing and enjoying my new life of unemployment (but not collecting) Lindsay received a phone call that was a little strange at first, but then it turned into an AWESOME possibility. There was a married couple from my previous church that I had painted for back in the summer of 2006. They had an office building downtown and needed an office painted before they brought in two new employees. So Lindsay and I painted during the evenings of one week and on the weekend to get this room ready for the new hires to start on Monday. We were hard workers. Well, turns out that our hard work ethic rubbed off and made a lasting impression.
Just about 18 months later they are offering us $2,500 as a gift, but with a specific purpose. They wanted us to use the money to start a small business. “A small business?” I shouted. Well, maybe not really, but I was excited, and so was Lindsay. We had always dreamed of owning our own business together and saw this as a complete God-send. So we got right to work.
The idea was a coffee kiosk in an office building. The building already had the kiosk so all we would need to do was purchase the coffee equipment and actual coffee and put up a for sale sign. Easy. Well, not so. As we read books and articles online, we quickly learned that we would have to have all sorts of licenses from the local and state governments. Ok, no big deal. I got on the phone with the appropriate offices and got done what we needed. To make another long story a short story for the sake of your time, the owners of the building who were initially interested in us doing this backed out two weeks before we were set to open up shop. Mentally, we had just wasted lots of TIME (but I now view it as a valuable learning experience).
That brings us to mid February. I knew that our savings would last us to March, so I put looking for a job I would love to the side and went for anything that came up. I take a job at a call center where I made 100 calls every day for one month before I was offered another job (QUIT 6), my current job, as a Recruiting Coordinator at Computer Aid, Inc. (I know this is getting long, but please bare with me).
God is good. I was provided a job starting March 3rd that paid the bills and put food on the table. The work may not have been desirable, but it provided. I was then offered another job and started there March 31st, a better job with room to grow. And it did, just last week. But up until that point, I was tired of the work ALREADY!
I had started March 31st and six months later was ready to find another job. I was so bored with what I was doing and was more than ready for a change of pace. On my way to work every single day I asked God to give me patience, focus, and longevity. I refused to do things my way and just up and leave. I wanted God to move me to my next position, a position that matched my desire, and as He does, He did just that.
I love to write, and I want to write full time. I have no professional writing experience but am a fast and willing learner. This is what I told my boss in an email after my father in-law (who also works for Computer Aid, Inc.) told me over the weekend about a job opening for a Tech Writer. My boss sent that email to my manager and told her to review my work load and come up with a way to distrubite my work among the admin team in the building. Last Thursday I started training this team on what I do. My boss wanted me to start as a Tech Writer today, and I am.
My patience paid off, my relying on God to move, worked, and I am now, in my mind, starting on an actual career path. QUIT - 6, Possible Career Path - 1.
So what is the best way to do life after high school? I’ll let you know next week, in Redefine The American Dream Part 6 - College Part 3.
Until then, what do you think about quitting? Can you quit too much or is it okay as long as you learn something? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
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