Why do you study so much? Did you just finish your degree? Why do you quit your stable job to go back to school? Oh, you have 20 courses left in your degree? It will take a while before you finish.
I often felt very discouraged when I heard these comments.
It was even more difficult when I did not see clearly the goals of me going back to school.
When I got my diploma from SAIT, I knew I needed to complete a degree which gave me more credential and also more knowledge in management and marketing.
However in the mean time, when I did not have my PR status for lower tuition, I worked full-time and studied a writing certificate with support from my work. A certificate does not charge extra for an international student, and a writing certificate was crucial for my career in marketing and communication career.
After I got my PR, I did not waste time to sign up for my degree. A year after I got my PR, I was in a post-diploma degree program. It was important in Canada to have a degree at least in business to advance in the career. I found it also helpful to learn something I did not know before and to keep me up-to-date with new marketing trends. It took me 2.5 years to complete my degree with evening and weekend classes. My program was mostly online due to COVID, though. However, I did it, I got my degree at the end! I was very happy because it was such a huge achievement for me, juggling between a small child and full-time work. It might be expected for many but for an immigrant like me, it was such a huge achievement.
But I did not want to stop there. I always knew I wanted more. I was not sure what it was, a different career or advancement in my own career. Honestly, not many people around me could guide me. However, my personal experience and openness to new opportunities did help. As a volunteer in the Vietnamese community, I got my first exposure in court shortly after my graduation. It was very new and stressful experience for me. It did not occur to me that I could be a lawyer all these years because my assumption was strong that only Canadians, born and raised, can become lawyers and doctors.
But the desire grew stronger when I saw a bit more clearly the opportunities and maybe a bit of my capability to do such work. This was all very new to me. I do not have family relatives that are lawyers, there are very few Viet lawyers in Calgary, I did not know many lawyers at all. All I knew was that the path to a law career was the LSAT! My GPA was quite competitive so all I needed was a good LSAT score.
So that was my next step: Practice the LSAT. For 1.5 years straight, after scoring low for the first 2 times, I got a good score the third time. And with that, I was officially accepted to the law school in my city. What luck?!
I was not sure if it was luck if I counted countless hours I studied for the LSAT (at least 2-3 hours each day for 7-8 months exclusively), the many court appearances I attended as an interpreter, the stress I endured before and during and after taking the LSAT (3 times).
To be honest, I would say it was 50% effort, 50% luck and it brought me joy to think about it that way. I feel very grateful, blessed to be where I am today.
So back to the question, why do I keep studying or I prefer to use the term learning?
I am still not sure but there is this calling that I should learn more so I could do more for others, that learning new things is fun and impactful, that maybe new opportunities are good, and maybe changes are what made life stable. Maybe what Greek philosopher Heraclitus said is true: The only constant in life is change.
Wrapping up this blog, I just wanted to say that I am where I am is because I am curious and open to opportunities.
I love to explore and push limits. It brings chaos to my life but also much joy and new horizons.
Not everyone is like me, I know and I feel lonely because of that some time. But it is my calling and my joy, and I would not trade anything for being me.
Regards,
Thao
#Day20 #30DayWritingChallenge