I wanted to write this blog about what it is like to make a career change into a different industry even at a young age.
When I was in high school the students were told that the science and technology industries were booming! If you wanted a real career, you'd better do something in the sciences! I, like many of my peers, took this information to heart and thus began my search for a career I was interested in. I always found the subject of chemistry to be interesting. A nice medium between mathematics and memorization (biology was far too much memorization, just like physics was too much math!). It never crossed my mind to focus on something in the computer industry, but unfortunately for students, most of the computer technology programs were canceled in our last year to focus on more teaching staff for the younger first year high school students.
When I entered University to start my Chemistry degree it became clear how different my high school was from others in larger cities. There were so many students in the computer programming field! Courses like that weren't even offered to us!
Throughout my 4 years in University I dabbled here and there in computer programming and tech classes; however, I found it to be a general struggle because it was like learning a new language as an adult. The university classes don't give you a basic understanding like I'm sure a high school class would.
After graduating university with an Honors Bachelor of Science in Chemistry I began searching for a job! After a few months of hard work, I landed a job at a laboratory in Kitchener. It was really exciting at first; however, as the year went on I began to realize I was doing the same monotonous thing over and over again. Eventually I left that job for a new opportunity and the cycle continued.
Although I still had my passion for learning and chemistry, I had become bored with what I was doing. In my spare time I played around with computers, cell phones and technology. It definitely became a passion for me. After some encouragement from my husband and family, I decided to pursue a career in technology.
It was tough to start out in a new industry; however, I was so ecstatic when REM gave me a chance to show my skills. It has been a great learning experience and I am so grateful for the chance I got. I look forward to learning more!
