Glints Scholarship: A Fear of Boring Jobs.
Ditulis oleh : Glints Indonesia
What I fear about my future career is that it will be a boring one. Let me explain.
I grew up in a house of academia, since both of my parents were lucky enough to go to higher education and shared a common interest in research and social issues. However, as a child, my dreams were fluctuative and inconsistent. In one year, I wanted to become an author, a taxi driver, a scientist, and a stuntman. Eventually, I settled on the thought that my career was genetic; since my parents were destined for a life of research, it’s highly probable that I was too.
And so, I pursued academics. I won’t say that I studied hard 24/7 or I was always the top of my class. In reality, I was quite mediocre academically – not horrible, but far from the best as well. Thankfully, my grades were good enough to get me into the Economics program of Gadjah Mada University – coincidentally, the same major my father had gone to years ago and where he still teaches now. To many, it seemed as if I would follow the same path as my father.
But during my senior year of high school, there was one big change that would lead me to a drastic shift in my career path.
I had always dreamed of going to college in the United States, where all universities requires each of its potential students to write an essay as one of the entry requirements. Since I had never written anything before, I decided to practice writing by actively posting on my blog and my Medium. It started small; one post each week, coupled with aggressive article reading to inspire and influence my own pieces. But over time, I started to write more and more, even writing a post daily for one whole month.
Even after I realized that going to college in the US was a pipe dream, and there was no longer any need for me to practice writing, I continued to write regardless. I had amassed a small following on Medium, and besides, it was also therapeutic – it helped me to understand and overcome my own failures. Writing became more than a hobby for me – it became an object of my affection.
But unfortunately, I also learned that economics was not something I was passionate about. And so, I realized too late that I had entered the wrong major. I would not be following the path of my father after all. Although a degree in Economics opens many doors for fresh graduates, all those doors seemed boring to me.
Now, don’t take my definition of “boring” at face value. When I say boring, I mean it as a personal statement. The jobs that an Economics major would succeed at are not jobs that I would find exciting, because those jobs are not a passion of mine. I have many friends in my major that find Economics very interesting, and I’m glad for them, that they made the right choice when they entered college. But for me, the only job that I would find interesting is a job in writing, and specifically (for now), screenwriting.
I admit, a dream to work in screenwriting and film directing is a very long shot. But to me, I can’t imagine a job more exciting. Spending 20 hours a day to make your dreams come true? Way better than sitting in an office crunching numbers to predict the economic fluctuations (no offense, my economically inclined friends).
But having a fear of a boring job is not easy. While my friends are getting internships at banks or at government institutions on an annual basis, I spend a lot of time looking for freelance work and internships in creative agencies. It’s not easy to find jobs when you believe in a irrational dream. Thankfully, there are websites like Glints that definitely help a lot with looking for these kinds of jobs. They’re my go-to website when I’m looking for jobs – lots of choices, fantastic design, and easy to use. It helps lighten the load a little.
In the end, having a fear of a boring job is both good and bad. On one hand, it’s way harder to find jobs and internships for screenwriting – really, it’s hard for any “exciting job”. But on the other hand, the end result will be much more rewarding and exciting. Who wouldn’t want to live out their dream every single day of their lives?
For now, I’ll stick to having a fear of a boring job, as long as it motivates me to pursue my dream job.
