Taking a step back to move forward

I was 19 years old, fresh out of college, looking for anything that would pay well and could help me become a permanent resident of Canada. After a lot of job-hunt, I settled for an automobile parts manufacturing company as an engineer. I was excited at the beginning as something new was introduced in my life, and I was actually making a lot of money for the first time. After spending two years over there, I became a permanent resident of Canada.

Now that my immigration status was settled in Canada, I decided to work for one more year as my family back home in India needed some financial support from me. Three years went by and I started looking for other jobs as my resume was strong due to the experience. I went to a couple of interviews, they were close to my house and were providing more salary and benefits as compared to my company but as time went by, I stopped looking for other opportunities.

When I was a little kid, I always dreamed of one day growing up and becoming a performer. I used to take part in school plays while growing up and I once promised myself that if I ever even get a little chance and time of converting it into reality, I would go for it. After realizing that this was a perfect time since I was 22 and didn't have many responsibilities, I joined acting classes. It was perfect as I was working five days a week and my sixth day was in the studio learning to become a performer.

Ever since I joined those classes, my intuition told me that this is everything that I ever wanted and for a beginner, I was certainly at the right place. I was learning most of the elements that are required to become a full actor. On top of that, I was performing every Saturday with a scene partner in front of other students and a video of my performance was recorded and shown at the end of the class.

Everything was “going well” according to me, that one day in a week was enough to make it up for five miserable days at work. I was at a point in my life where every week started with desperation, as I was just waiting for the weekdays to be over so that I can spend my Saturday doing what I love and I spent an entire year like that.

Last month I went on a boat cruise with my friends, I sure did have a lot of fun after a long time. At the end of the day, I was looking at an incredible view of the sunset from the lake. It was an astonishing view, I did not want to stop looking at it, and I was seizing every single second of that moment. That was me holding on to that moment as much as I could and these few minutes of my life made me realize that time is the most valuable thing in life which I was squandering for the past year. I was making money for sure, but I was wasting my time, time that I could use to work on my skills and bring my game to the next level.

I’ve decided to finally quit my job and move on with my life. I’m not sure if this is the right thing to do now due to the whole pandemic situation but at my personal level, this is a way out for me to actually live my life. It would take some time for the industry to fully open up, which means it would take some time for me to find work as an actor, which I’ve already started to look for. In the meantime, my status will also be changed from a full-time employee to unemployed and to a full-time student. I have been enrolled in a two-year diploma program at a college where I will be learning more about this field.

Despite all loopholes, I see this time as a perfect opportunity to learn and grow as a person. By the time everything goes back to normal, I am sure that I would be ready to showcase myself in front of the world.