When I Grow Up, I Want to Help People, and Get Paid to Do It

I have worked in the Public Service, which came close to what I want, but in a way far too structured for my creative self. I have worked in the Pet Food Industry which was interesting enough and had elements of what I want, but also some elements that felt wrong to me.

It felt like I would never get the kind of job that would work for me. And then the opportunity came up for further schooling, paid for by the government, and I decided to give it a go.

Now, three weeks after I began doing a Certificate IV at TAFE, which is a tertiary education system below the level of University, in Australia, I am learning things that have direct relevance to what I want to do, and I'm loving learning!

Of course, it is impacting on my online time - I have to do homework! - but my online time is not how I want to earn a living. Little bits of money are welcome of course, but proper work pays the bills easily for me online earning comes nowhere near that. I like meeting and greeting with people too much to be able to give my online career the time and effort required for real money. At TAFE I am learning about, and also meeting, people I would never meet otherwise, people from around the world, who have come to find a better life in Australia.

Once I have my Cert IV I can pick and choose the jobs that interest me. The qualification opens up many different kinds of jobs. Working with Youth, the mentally ill, and the elderly. Working in the community, in institutions, in Councils, lots of different options. Mental illness interests me, as a writer, as a one time sufferer, and as a compassionate and creative person. The thought is always there that it is a fine line between creativity and madness. The more I know about that fine line, the safer it may be to tread along the line.

I don't know what I may end up doing, but I can see so many options opening up as I learn, and I feel I have much to give. My time, my knowledge, my empathy. Last week one of my teachers told me she thought I would make a good teacher, and that moment made me proud. I love to help people to learn ways of doing things in a better way for their health and wellbeing.

I can't think of a better role in life than to spend my time helping people. It is what I have been moving toward all of my working life, and I am finally on my way to getting qualified to do it.