I didn't always want to be an oilfield consultant, hell I didn't even picture myself in the oilfield till it happened. I was always going to be famous sports writer, I loved sports and I loved to write it just made sense to me. I was sports editor of the college paper, I was building a portfolio, and by my own admission, my marks could have been higher but I had everything else going for me to apply for journalism school. Just to cover my bases I went to a school councillor to gauge my chances before I sent in my application and that's when it began to unravel.
The councillor I saw that day basically told me to not apply because of my marks, recommended that I get a general arts degree, then apply after that because they held spots for people with degrees already. I wouldn't say I was devastated, but I definitely felt like I took a shot to the jaw. In my mind I knew I had what it took, but I also had doubts and she stoked those flames. I ended up not apply deciding to scale back my class load while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do as a general arts degree just to have a degree wasn't a good idea to me. I later decided that I was going to change departments, try to get into some sports marketing or administration programs. Once again had to see a councillor, explained what I wanted to do, why I started in arts and why I want to switch to the newly rebranded Kinesiology. This councillor looked at my marks, and asked my why I didn't apply to the Journalism school, I explained what I was told, and she said they weren't the worst marks she's seen and I probably would have had a shot if I applied. I left the office angry, I made the decision to change course from the last meeting. I could have applied the following semester but decided that I needed to take sometime away from school.
I did some minor jobs in the city to pay the bills and then by happenstance, got a call to try pipelining and from there the rest is history. However, my love for talking sports never went away. If anyone wanted to talk sports on site they would find me because I always had an opinion and I wasn't scared to give it. I would post snippets on facebook and twitter, as social media grew. I thought about starting a sports blog, but decided that I didn't have the following or a big enough hook to get an audience. Plus I didn't have the time to dedicate to it if I wanted to get it off the ground like I wanted to. If you haven't noticed this blog also takes a backseat to other things in my life, sorry.
I am happy to announce I will be joining a known sports blog soon. I am starting with their CFL coverage and I am hoping that it allows me to branch elsewhere in their other sports coverage. It's a small step and it is essentially free labour right now, but it is something that I can't wait to try.
I just hope this shows my kids that they never have to give up on their dreams, although E wants to be a princess right now so that might be an issue. My family has always supported everything I have done, and I hope my kids realize that I will always have their backs...even if they want to be a princess or batman.
Which blog? I'll definitely give it a read!
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