The Moments We Decide to Take Action to Change Our Lives
Studying did not interest me for the major part of my teenage years into young adulthood. The concept of forking over thousands of dollars to receive a piece of paper proving that I completed a Bachelors program seemed stupid. So, after one and a half years into my University degree, I decided to take a break from studying.
You would think that I would have gone on a crazy trip right away, but I was broke. With no money, living with my parents, and with nothing to fill my time, I went about finding work. As someone whose only job experience at the time was working at McDonald’s getting paid minimum wage at the time, any job with better pay was my goal. Of course, it wasn’t long until I found it.
It was this job that shaped my future dedication towards completing my undergraduate program. The job had such a profound impact on my outlook on life and where I wanted to go in the future, that I forced myself to be interested in studying. It was a great job for the result it had on my directionless life. It gave me focus on what was important and what had to be done to achieve something. It was a job in a warehouse.
As a newly hired picker for a warehouse delivering produce to grocery stores, I donned my headset each morning at 6:00AM. Each step down the aisle, I was accompanied by a robotic friend instructing me on my daily work. At 11:00AM, I sat down in the lunch room to eat and chat with my co-workers. Once 30 minutes passed, I grabbed my trusty headset to lift some more boxes of apples on top of a pallet that had long grown past my height. After my shift, I sat in my car and took a break for 15 minutes before departing back home to eat and sleep before my next shift.
Each morning I entered the warehouse to work. My colleagues and I stretched to prevent any injuries and made small talk about our mornings. During these talks, I felt the lure of going back to University. As each day passed, this lure towards completing my undergraduate studies became greater.
Each morning I would say hello to my co-workers and ask about their mornings. Without failure, 4 out of 5 of these interactions resulted in the same story. It wasn’t until I heard the following that I decided, I can’t stay.
I woke up in the morning, turned to my pillow, screamed for 10 minutes, and drove to work. Every morning, I scream into my pillow and drive to work.
The helplessness you hear in a man’s voice when their life has cornered them into such a situation was terrifying. It was a wake up call that the job, was not a keeper. His tired voice rattled my brain into action as I began to realize the potential future of my lack of action. It was at this moment in my life that I realized the risk of complacency.
I was privileged at the time to be able to go back to school. I worked, saved, and with the help of my parents, re-enrolled to school with one goal in mind. I would never again set foot in a workplace like that again.
That’s not to say that the jobs these places provide are bad. In fact, the pay was great and the work was easy. However, the wake up call was the moment when I realized I had the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills to get a better job. It felt as if I was throwing away a gift that others would die for. That was unacceptable.
I accept the privilege and opportunities I was given at the time with the hard work of my parents. Many of us have these life changing moments, but over the years I have realized that many do not have the opportunities to make the decisions that I could make. Some opportunities are only available to those that gain higher education and that is a reality, and I will never forget this.
Were there life changing moments like this for you as well? What do you think we can do for future generations in being able to access education?
