Long Time, No Blog (Progress report)

Keep telling myself lately to start writing here again. So, here I am! Finally. I’m back. Whether or not it makes a difference for anyone other than me. What I mean by that is the realization that writing in this blog is good for me at the very least, because it allows me to look back at my thoughts in the past and see how my view in life has changed (or not) since then.

Obviously, this hit me when I came back and read what I had written here. For some reason, I had this idea in my head that what had been written was of little value or just complete and utter trash. Looking back, however, I wish I had written more; the insight into what my mindset was like is valuable in helping me note the path that I’ve taken in my life since those thoughts were first put from fingers to webpage.

So, how has that journey been? Well, one thing I’ll note is my optimism regarding how my ADHD would help me thrive in the wonderful world of accounting that I chosen as my career path. That optimism has been shattered. COVID hit halfway through the final semester of my program and forced all classes to be done remote online, which is the antithesis of the kind of environment that I can learn well from. I fell short of getting my diploma that year and vowed to try again next year.

In the meantime, after countless interviews, I got a 2 month contract job at a small accounting firm, doing taxes. It was there that I learned the horrible truth. I am not cut out for this industry. My ADHD makes it difficult for me to just sit at a desk and do the same thing over and over again, and that was something I was looking at having to do, not just as a job, but as a career? After that contract ended, I looked for other work in the meantime and ended up settling for something I vowed I’d never do again; food service industry – at McDonald’s this time.

It was there that I had the final nail in the coffin for my career in the accounting field – I found that I enjoyed working more at McDonald’s than I did doing accounting. I realized that I enjoyed that kind of ‘fast-paced’ work environment; one where you have to always be on your toes never know what you’re going to have to deal with next.

So…I stayed at McDonald’s. Worked my way quickly from the kitchen to service, then up to Crew Trainer, and then promoted to management. That’s when my brain reminded me – “You don’t want to stay here. You’ve been down this path.” I could feel depression settling in with the realization that this might end up being what I do for the rest of my life. Luckily, inspiration was just around the corner.

The turning point came when my gf took me to the Hockey Hall of Fame for my birthday. There was an exhibit where you could feel what it’s like to be a Sports Anchor or do play-by-play for TSN, complete with a mock setup of the studio. Working in sports broadcasting was always like a dream to me, so I tried it out, and loved it. I knew the local college had a broadcasting program, so I looked into that – such as finding out what was required, or what was taught. At the same time, I had been complimented a lot on my speaking skills at drive thru – both by customers and co-workers. So the inspiration of realizing a dream, combined with the confidence gained from the encouragement, allowed me to decide to take the chance and take the plunge on going back to school. Again.

So here I am. Almost finished the 1st semester, and realizing that I will be able to thrive much better in this kind of industry than I ever would have been able to in Accounting. That said, I’m also, at the same time, completing the last course I need to get the Accounting diploma. I don’t plan on going down that path, but at least it’ll be an option, and personally, I’m looking forward to completing that so that I can say I accomplished something. I finished something. Like this post.

So, I plan on posting more about my current journey. Hopefully I can keep on that plan and not have to make a ‘Long Time, No Blog’ (Take 2) 3 more years from now.