I have been very fortunate in that I have not experienced any major setbacks. After I graduated from college I worked for a year before going on to specialisation school. During that time I had a lot of difficulty coming to grips with the real world and reality. That was a big struggle for me because I had so many idealistic perspectives about how the world was going to be and what I would be doing. And then I got out there. I had a lot of people try to warn me, like my parents and my sisters, but until I got out there myself I didn’t realise how you have to balance reality with your dreams. It was kind of tough.
For example, I had an idealistic view of being able to make changes in the corporate environment I was working in. When you’re in college, there is so much more support for students to be active, take the initiative and to make changes in student organisations (not really in the administration). But in the corporate world there is so much bureaucracy and so many layers you have to go through. It was very disheartening. It is still upsetting to me now, but I realise that this is what I have to work with and changes can still be made.
I’m so glad I had a year’s experience before going back to multimedia school because I would have had no idea what it is really like in the world of work. That one year taught me a lot. When I interview creative people that have gone straight from creation to visuals, I’m always amazed that they know, or think they know, what they want without ever sampling the real world. I was able to use that one year of experience to adequately prepare myself for life after graduation. I wouldn’t have known what I wanted if I hadn’t had a taste of the real world.
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