work

Back in my senior year of high school, I was waiting in line at a Taco Bell with a friend of mine. A stranger, who I believe was dressed like a postal worker, was waiting with us and my friend asked him something to the effect of "Do you like what you do?" The guy, probably annoyed that we were talking to him, half-answered, "It's a job", to which my friend openly responded, "The difference between a job and a career is a career is something you enjoy doing." At the time I was working part time cleaning out golf carts and was quick to agree that I did not in fact have a career.

That way of thinking still carries with me. For twenty-somethings like myself, a career is something that earns you money and has a path, one that you'd like to keep traveling down. Jobs can have paths too. How many restaurant managers used to be servers or hosts? Some of them, I'm sure, love what they do and would proudly defend it as an honest career. More power to them. What's great about this whole job versus career argument is that everyone can view their situation differently. The point is that when a career path has reached its end, you should find yourself comfortable, doing something that you love to do. It doesn't have to define who you are as a person, but it isn't going to feel like a job for the rest of your life.

Me? I love what I do. Even when I started in the shipping department licking envelopes and shelving tapes I was aware that time had become my only obstacle. I was where I wanted to be. My determination was in place, and confidence in my ability to learn whatever I needed to was going to take me on the next step of my journey. After a little more than a year I had reached the next major plateau on my way to becoming a Video Editor; that is, I became an Assistant Video Editor.

The hours can be terrible. Every day work takes precedence over almost anything else I'd like to do. In only two years as an Assistant I can't even recall all the times I've had to work weekends and/or late nights (a couple times all the way through to the morning.) More importantly, however, I can be myself when I'm at work. I can be happy when I have to come in for twelve hours on a Sunday only to wake up the next morning to the start of a five day work week. Sometimes my days are nine to five and sometimes they're nine to seven or eight. It's still my career.