Growing up I wanted to be a mechanic. After I went to tech school and got into the field I learned how much of it was pushing shit on people even when it can wait or they can’t afford it. I got bitched at by my boss for trying to help someone prioritize what they actually needed vs “recommended services” on more than one occasion. I tried switching shops a few times but it was always the same thing so I completely lost my passion for it. I just work on my own car now.

I wanted to get into IT (primarily computer networking), but I unfortunately could not deal with the customer service aspect and all the corporate bullshit that came with being in the field. Plus, it’s nigh impossible to get a job in the field now, even after getting a certificate and “doing my time” working at a call center (hate that shit.)

Unfortunately I’d need to be an American citizen to be president of the United States.

Yup! I had an amazing job lined up working for a major company at their EMEA headquarters in the UK. I had got through a half-dozen rounds of interviews and was offered the position. I had just moved into a place near their campus and was heading through the process of joining (there was a longwinded - but fully paid - enrolment process I was working through) with an amazing job full of travel, interesting challenges and, crucially, a £100k/year salary waiting at the end. But this was shortly after Brexit and the flailing UK government was jumping from self-imposed crisis to completely-unavoidable crisis, insulting and infuriating other countries by constantly changing the terms of neotiation, publicly announcing then denying new impossible promises by the day, and the company in questions had just had enough: how the fuck could they keep their EMEA HQ in a country that couldn’t even promise that foreigners would be able to visit - let alone work - there in six months, and they announced the campus was closing. All the existing jobs moved to the EU, existing staff offered redundancy or relocation, and the onboarding process was cancelled. Thanks to Brexit I wasn’t allowed to live or work in the EU so I was jobless. I ended up doing shitting IT support jobs for £20k then £18k for years until I finally landed the job I’m in now which I love, but it’s definately not where I could - or, at the risk of sounding arrogant should - have been.

Music production. It would have taken years after finishing recording school to even begin to break even, let alone make minimum wage, let alone make a living wage. All the entry-level gigs were one-time unpaid things.

I haven’t fully given up on music production forever because I’m too fucking stubborn, but I’m not making it my full-time job.

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Well no. I’ve changed my mind a lot of times about what I want to do not because of industry but simply because my taste changed. I believe it’s important to do what you love, personally I don’t care if I don’t make lots of money.

Illustration. It isn’t a thing where I’m at, and settled for graphic design (which is still barely a thing here). After graduation I applied for scholarships abroad, and got accepted on a full ride in a private university in Hamburg for illustration.

Weeks before I was supposed to leave I got cold feet and looked up all the info I could about the university. Turns out it’s a scam, the degree’s worth fuck all, and the university seemed to have this MO of recruiting aspiring legal migrants from third world countries (like myself) into its curriculum, voiding their scholarship, offering shit education, and charging exorbitant rates until they leave or graduate.

I was despondent for months since this seemed to be my big break after a pretty tough few months. Then AI image generation took off.

I’m okay at illustrating characters, but it’s immediately obvious I’ve learnt by myself and have done very little diligent study on the topic. My inexperience, how prevalent AI images are, and the uphill battle that gaining clients is, are keeping me away from trying again.

Not so much a dream career but a dream escape out of nursing, but not completely out of nursing since that would mean starting over with a new degree, new shit to pay for, more debt. I got into informatics, hoping to capitalize on my nursing experience combined with my desire to make EMR software usable for the users. I didn’t go anywhere with that degree. I didn’t get a job as an informaticist. Now I’m stuck in a nursing job I hate and it is making me suicidal, and my BF is getting worn out because of my flare-up of CPTSD symptoms. He also suffers from anxiety so he feels a lot of what I feel. I am very intent on finding an apprenticeship program for a trade I think I’d be decent at: Communications or low voltage systems. I came back from an apprenticeship graduation event, part of the perks of being with my BF who works very closely with the unions who run them. I hope I can make a good career in this field.

Nursing is not a good choice for all of you if you are sick of your dead end jobs or dead end careers. Nursing is full of psychopathic beeaches. If you’ve ever gotten any bad vibes from many nurses, this is why. I am getting out by hook or by crook. Yeah sure, it may destroy my chances of emigrating to a western country in the short term, but long term, I think I’d be better off. And I could still parlay any new trade skills into permanent residency in another western country. However, I also got my nursing license in British Columbia. I’m still torn.

I’ve always dreamt of creating music for video games. Ended up becoming a developer but still dabble with music here and there.