      As grad comes up for Grade 12 students this May and June I always find myself thinking back to what my plans were and how things developed.
           I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do out of school. I thought I had wanted to join the RCMP, but my parents encouraged me to get an education and life experience first – if it was something I still wanted to do later in life, then by all means, but until then I needed to learn more about myself and the world.
           I ended up randomly choosing math teacher then as a profession… I did well in math in high school – had marks in the 90s… but I didn’t realize I had no idea how to study or learn at a university level. Math didn’t make sense to me there… I ended up failing a final, thankfully still passing my class, in my first semester. In my second semester I was close to failing both of my math courses… probably not the best for someone thinking they could be a math major.
           In the end I decided to switch to History and focus on becoming a social studies teacher; but, then I completed an introductory teaching course that everyone had to pass before they could apply to Education. I really enjoyed the teaching side of things, but discovered that it just wasn’t for me. So, I decided, two years in, to switch again and decided to just major in History.
           So, within two years I had bounced around a little bit in what I was going to take for education. Once deciding just to focus on History things became interesting as well because what can you do with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in History?
           I entertained the idea of doing my Master’s, but decided that I should get out of the education realm and live a little before deciding if that was the avenue I should take or not.
           I then found myself going from thinking I’d be a math teacher to applying to work here at The Observer. My degree had prepared me to research and write; while, I had read our local newspaper in Shaunavon quite often. It was really just a matter of learning on the job about the Canadian Press writing style and applying it.
           My first interview was with Adam Swanson who had won a bodybuilding competition and I had to call him back after realizing I had forgotten to ask him a couple of questions… I was quite embarrassed about that fact; but, the only way to improve yourself is to learn from your mistakes.
           For anyone graduating, striking out on your own is a lot of fun. You learn so much about who you are and what you’re capable of. One of the things I learned first-hand, however, which caused some trouble was that I wasn’t going to be good at university the same way I was at high school. There was way more work that had to go into it.
I also learned that although I had made my mind up on what I was going to do, I had to come to terms with life forcing me onto a different route.
I’ve very much enjoyed my experiences and have found myself here in Carlyle for six years as of April. Life doesn’t always go the way you plan, don’t get frustrated or discouraged, but just keep looking for the doors and windows that open if one of them shuts. You don’t always know what life will bring.
