Imagine getting sick of one job, packing it up and starting again in another?
I am proof that you shouldn’t think about chasing a new dream, throw caution to the wind and do it.
Gone are the days where we pick a career and do it for 30 years – I couldn’t think of anything worse, I am probably a 12 month time bomb to any job.
I started with a high school dream of being a journalist. I soon learnt that a very select and small percentage of people make the elite cut I had dreamt of. So despite completing a journalism degree through CSU and paying big bucks for it, I still was adamant I did not want to spend my days writing – it’s nice now to pick who and what I write for!
I gave a decade of my life to being a journalist across television, newspaper, magazines and digital platforms before one day, I decided enough was enough. I was over the unfriendly hours, ridiculous pay packets and thankless work. I remember jetting back into Sydney airport from a two week assignment in outback Queensland. It was a great trip but I no longer wanted to live that life.
I came home, applied for a job as a road safety officer with Transport for NSW. I got the job and set off on a new adventure. My lifelong passion was becoming a NSW Police Officer but I had a few fitness obstacles to meet so I thought I would fill some time.
The police dream is only months away and I am so excited but to get to this point I studied a policing and criminology degree and am now doing a teaching degree.
I know you’re probably thinking how is all this going to marry together – well this is how!
I intend of serving as a police officer for a long time. My current role as a road safety officer allows me to work closely with NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol and I love it! So I will pursue my dreams of becoming an (not so) evil traffic cop and, on my days off, flutter in the classroom with kids.
The good news is, I got recognition of prior learning from my previous studies so I can teach HSIE and English with only a few short months of studying, plus make extra cash by writing for great publications that I choose to.
I am proof that you can have multiple dreams and you can make them reality. Don’t dwindle in a job you hate because that’s what you chose to do. Move on, shoot for new heights and have fun along the way.
So, whether I teach your children in a classroom or meet you on the side of the road in uniform, you can rest assured I get out of bed every day and genuinely love what I do – and you can to!
