The Lemon Life | online magazine offering a fresh perspective on post-grad life.

Words by: Ryan Johnston

Image by: Jessica Chan

Making decisions is rarely easy.  We all make them, whether it be small or large, we make hundreds of them a day.  Every now and then a day will include a decision that will have an enormous impact on your life.  I had a day just like this about six months ago.  After time out in the working world I am going to go back to school and do it all over again, the right way.

I should be clear about something.  My post secondary education consisted of a fifteen month program in film production, not exactly the grueling four year battle that most people go through.  I missed out on an important part of life that most people gain immense benefits from.  My schooling was over before I knew it and I was thrown into the working world with what I will call I limited educational background.  From that point on I have had various jobs, working in television and live entertainment, and I have not come to love what I do.  After four years if you don’t love it, you should leave it.  I have never been someone that would take a job I hate just to pay the bills, at least not one that did not have a definite end.

I woke up one morning in the middle of a long spell of downtime.  Work was sparse and it was forcing me to rethink my position. I didn’t want to have a career that included long bouts of unemployment.  It was all or nothing, I was either on the road working or not working at all.  I went through days and days of soul searching, looking for a sign that I was supposed to be doing something else.  I never thought that going back to school was an option, until it presented itself.  It makes the most sense.  I copped out of going to university right after high school.  I was one of those stubborn kids that thought it was totally unnecessary given that I wanted to go into film and university would take up four years that I could be using to gain work experience.  Of course, after film school I ended up working on an interior design show serving people lunch.  After that the passion to make films kind of….fizzled.

The bottom line is I was not happy with my current situation.  I needed something that I could feel passionate about; it happens to be that it would be found in taking an essential step back instead of an unnecessary step forward.  Moving forward from my current position is unwise.  I have come to realize that I do not have all the quintessential tools to make a career for myself.  If I go back to school, and do it the right way, I will gain a number of valuable experiences that I have seen so many friends benefit from.  It will change my outlook on the world and allow me to focus on a definite goal, instead of always wondering what that goal should be.

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