Growing up, I never felt that it was a disadvantage not having any siblings; or having parents that are not university or college-educated. I found myself pretty lucky in fact to have so much trust and belief from my parents to have the freedom to hopefully do the right thing. But because of this, I’ve always felt that I was somewhat alone in making a lot of the important choices in life to lead me to where I am today. Going to my high school was pre-destined by the one simple test I took when I was in grade 4 to determine if I was able to get into the extended French program. Without that, I would’ve never continued to take French in university leading me to eventually do a year’s exchange in Paris, France in my third year. I was sold on going to the University of Waterloo simply by knowing that one smart girl in my summer English class was accepted and was ready to pack her bags to go. (That later changed when she decided it wasn’t the right university for her and switched out; but if it hadn’t been for her, my life wouldn’t be the same.)
Once you’ve made the choice of the high school or of your college/university, it’s great because your life is on autopilot for a few years at each step. You go through the motions of classes, exams, relationships, friendships, one day after the next. It’s what comes afterwards that no one really prepares you for.
You’re all of a sudden pushed into the workforce and whether you go on a grad trip or take the summer off, more often than not you’re starting your full time career as a fresh grad. Even though I’m really thankful for the experience I got as a co-op student (again another experience I could not imagine myself without), I really stumbled my way through job interviews, and somehow, someway, I managed to get myself into an industry that feels like such a perfect fit. For that, I am very thankful. But it leads me to think, what else is next? There are no more rules. You hope to find a job that you’ll love, find a partner to spend the rest of your life with, invest in a house, start a family, etc. But there’s no “program” where everything’s laid out for you. No one sits you down to counsel you on how to plan out the next stage of your life.
I attended an event last Thursday thanks to @NotableCA, bringing together young professionals and 24 of the top Toronto executives into a round table networking dinner. One of the executives we dined with, said something that really spoke to me. Someone asked, “How much does luck and timing have to do with (your) success?” He responded, “You make your own luck”. In life, you’re presented with opportunities all the time, but it’s up to you what you make of them. He went on to give us examples of how he started off as a lawyer, only to realize when he hit his 40′s that he was not passionate and decided to quit and start his own venture. It took him 3 years of toughing it out until he reached a turning point when a good friend/old acquaintance believed in him and gave him his first piece of business. Now he’s managing millions of dollars of investments for people and he owes everything to the network that he’s built around him, who was there for him when he needed the support. This says a lot to me because I think it’s really true; you never know what’s to happen, you never know how someone you meet once will show up again in your life one day. There’s a lot of things that I do where I’m giving up my own time to help someone out, volunteering for organizations, going to networking events to make new connections, and all the while, not really knowing where my efforts may go. But I have to hold onto the the belief that everything happens for a reason. And when you figure that out, that’s when you realize how beautiful life is.
