My career, one step at a time

?By Bowman Wargo , first year sport science student?

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There is a Chinese proverb that reads: “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. The journey that begins after graduating high school certainly feels like a thousand miles (most of which is uphill). I observed that it becomes increasingly easy to be paralysed by the question: “what do I want to do with my life?” Admittedly, I am still in the beginning of this journey, but I think I have figured out the secret (or at least one of the secrets) to success. Are you ready for your life to be changed? All your dreams to come true? Okay, the secret is: take one step at a time.?

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What I thought a job had to look like?

When I was fourteen years old, I decided it was time to grow up and choose a career path, but there were quite a few factors I had to consider. I had to make enough money, do something with prestige to make my parents proud, prove to my classmates I wasn’t a failure in life, and it shouldn’t be enjoyable because it’s a job (obviously). I specifically remember sitting on the fourth-floor study area at my school and flipping between tabs on my painfully slow Acer laptop, when I made my decision. All my criteria intersected over the idea of joining the army and more specifically, Westpoint (the highly prestigious United States military university).?

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Upskilling?

Over the next four to five years, I took steps towards the future I chose for myself. I took the most rigorous classes I could. I discovered powerlifting and quickly fell in love with strength training. I filled up my resume with work experience at a local café and volunteer experience at nonprofits and with my church. To balance all these extracurriculars, school, and powerlifting, I had to develop time management skills, discipline and a relentless work ethic.??

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It wasn’t for me?

When the time came to send in applications, my desire to join the army was gone. I realized I didn’t want to take orders for a living. I did all this work, only to realize this wasn’t the life I wanted for myself. Choosing not to go to Westpoint meant I needed to make a new plan, and fast!?

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What then??

I knew I liked life sciences largely thanks to my Anatomy/Physiology and Biology teacher in senior year. My eyes were opened to how the human body works and how that can be applied to sports performance. My family all have scuba certifications, and as a kid we would travel to go diving, which gave me a love for travelling. I had also started to get competitive for powerlifting and wanted to foster that training. These three factors led me to leave the United States and apply to the University of Glasgow to study Sport and Exercise Science. Even though this was a drastic change, the previous academic and extracurricular work for the Westpoint application facilitated a successful pivot.?

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In hindsight?

As a kid I always thought a career was a simple, straightforward path that you chose after graduating high school. My experience, however, has been the exact opposite. I planned, worked really hard to achieve it, then changed my mind and pivoted. In hindsight, I am so glad that I worked hard to apply to the army, even if I didn’t stick with it. The pursuit taught me how to study hard, manage my time, and improve my problem-solving skills. It can be overwhelming to try and make a monumental decision like choosing a career. Instead of trying to figure it all out at once, just choose a direction and take one step. If you don’t like it, you can always change (and won’t be doing so empty handed).??

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Take the first step.?

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