Sunday, January 24, 2010

Deus Ex Machina

I always knew that I had aspirations in life beyond what I was applying myself to. About 6 years ago I was simply content to let every day run into the next. No cares, no worries, NO aspirations and then everything started to fall apart. I finally began to loathe the life that I had constructed for myself and I felt absolutely powerless to correct it. I was a big boy and made my own mistakes but, found a new direction when I meet my wife. We saved each other from mutually horrible relationships and now here we are, married with a baby boy that will one day take over the world (Weapon X style).

When we first got together, about 5 years ago, we were both working paycheck to paycheck at a telemarketing firm as sales agents. I was also working for the School system as a Lunch Lady and part time janitor. It was a pretty fun time and yet there just felt like something was missing, a hole that no words could quantify. The telemarketing firm we worked for ended up closing and we were all laid off, which really sucked. I started working with my cousin at his pizza shop and that relationship ended after about 6 months. I was tired of his “chronic” bad habits (yes, pun intended) and the constant haranguing about being “too efficient” at what I did. I also, ended up leaving the school system after a prolonged illness and started working for another telemarketing firm called “Evergreen Sales”. This still make me laugh considering I DESPISE talking on the phone and, at the time, couldn't’t sell water to a man in the desert. Anyway, I’ve been at Evergreen ever since and have made a pretty good name for myself through my work ethic and determination. Right now I’m working under the Director of Training and Development and my duties as of right now are to overhaul the training program for our company (ya, it’s been a fun 3 weeks).

Still, no matter how much fulfillment I thought I had, there was always that hole. Through my “career” at Evergreen I’ve meet some pretty interesting, and derelict, people and very few have moved me in a personal way. I do have to say that when my friend Graeme moved away to finish his degree, I finally realized what that hole was; my education. I’d never finished going back to college and as good as Evergreen has been to me, I want more from my life than taking Supervisor calls from pissed off customers. I looked online for schooling and finally settled on Kaplan because they had a degree program that I was interested in: Nutritional Sciences. My goal is to be a registered dietitian at some point and hopefully, fulfill my lifelong dream of moving to Canada (different story for a different time).

I really enjoy going to school online. I’m usually a pretty laid back person so the fact that I can do the work in my PJ's is a BIG plus. My computer doesn’t judge me based on my hair and tats so I do like the fact that I don’t really have to have that much face to face contact however, I do enjoy the conversations with other people (how crazy is that). I’m a storyteller by nature so, talking and typing is more my style.

I’m really digging this whole “having to blog” thing for one of my classes. It gives me a creative outlet that I really don’t get anywhere else. I mean, playing the guitar and sewing sock monsters is one thing but, neither really interact with me (well the monsters….never mind ^_^). I also think that as people begin to express themselves more freely outside of a normal “classroom” atmosphere they can also begin to fully immerse themselves in what they’re doing. Am I awesome in a classroom? No. Can I entertain people and lead the new world order from the comforts of my living room? Absolutely.

2 comments:

  1. It is great to see that your life has turned around. Good luck to you as you achieve your degree.

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  2. You are so creative, Niko---this is a masterpiece! I know that education (literally, in Latin, a drawing forth of what is best in you)is an important piece that is missing for many--kudos on figuring it out!

    This was so funny and interesting and entertaining, it totally kept me reading (dang! I just meant to SKIM all of these! You, you!!)

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