New Journey Begins
by. William Walker Jr.
September 27th, 2018
For the majority of my life I've always wanted to be a writer. To utilize my creativity in some form or fashion. Whether it be in Junior High and High School writing short stories, poems, and raps in one way or another I would find myself drawn to creating through the written word. However as I entered into adulthood the financial benefit of becoming a writer wasn't at the forefront of my mind. When I first started college I had no clue what my major should even be. I knew I liked to write and be creative, I distinctly recall my father telling me "you should major in journalism". My thought however was a news reporter seeking out some boring or depressing story. Nothing brought me lower as a kid as the news, so the thought of entering that arena did nothing for me. I loved working with computers and I figured computer programmers make money (which they do) so I figured that was the job for me.
What no one tells you is how tedious and at times boring being a computer programmer can be. I was struggling mighty in a Unix class and this was just the bare basics. So I figure change my major someday I'd like to run my own business, so you know let me take business marketing and management that's perfect for me. It was during that time I entered the workforce starting at TCIM services a telemarketing company. For a kid that was used to minimum wage from working at Wendy's this job seemed perfect. It paid well and all I really did was answer the phone and do a few steps here and there. I quickly learned how draining how just sitting there answering the phone can actually be. From there I went into banking working for JPMorgan Chase in their collections department. This was well before every single person had caller ID so the possibility of actually getting someone to answer the phone and speak to you existed. It was becoming quickly evident that the corporate culture wasn't not the best environment for me.
I also was lacking in my dedication to my school work, fell behind and eventually stopped all together simply working moving from one office job to another. It was reading an article from one of my favorite magazines that I realized the person that wrote this article was a journalist! This wasn't some boring news story this was a thought out creative piece of art. I had fun reading I learned something about a subject I was interested to and the writing was top notch. Why didn't I pursue this. Unfortunately I had felt like the time for me to being a writer or journalist had passed I was just trying to make a living. I was enjoying the job I had as a customer service rep for a chemical company, I enjoyed my co-workers and the pay was good. Then the economic crisis of 2008 hit and for the next 6 years I was moving from one temp job to the next primarily working in an office doing customer service.
We've now have reached 2014 and I take on another new temporary assignment as a claims processor for a company that deals with unclaimed property. A field I didn't even know existed, the pay was great the hours were flexible and to my joy I was actually hired as a permanent employee in May of 2015. For the first time since 2008 I was going to be getting benefits if I took a vacation day I actually would get paid for it. But like the vast majority of the office jobs I've had prior the job itself began to wear on me. The chance for growth with in the company was stagnant the manager I worked for a buffoon with a God complex the worst combination possible. Yet I had fell into this complacency that kept me from doing anything about it. Sometimes you have to be shaken to even move, so in September of 2018 the quake came.
After dealing with the death in my family, and health concerns for my wife I was let go. The initial response was definitely anger, than shock, but next came a strong sense of peace and joy. Happiness in the fact that there were definite elements to this job that I would no longer have to deal with, people who treated me poorly I wouldn't have to converse with and the chance to finally do what I was meant to do. For years and years I ignored my calling to be a writer, so as I sit today and write this I said no more. It was time to invest in myself and believe in my own abilities and do my best to make writing as a career a reality. So marking the date in my calendar September 27, 2018 is the day my New Journey Begins.
