Sigh...

Looks like my goal of finding a job I'll really enjoy is slowly going down the tubes. Shoppers Optical called me yesterday for a phone interview and it got to about three questions before it stopped.

"Do you have time for a phone interview?"
"Are you currently employed?"
"Are you looking for part time or full time employment?"

I was slow on the draw. If only I had gotten off my fucking ass earlier to find a job even though I thought that a few weeks off would have been nice, which it was, then perhaps I would have one. [that I wanted] I've learned my lesson this summer.

Turns out Shoppers Optical is looking for full time associates to fill in for when all the summer students go back to school. Apparently they just had a huge "turn-over". Maybe they should take off the "PART TIME POSITIONS AVAILABLE".

Good news is the person I was talking to said she would pass my resume on to the optometrist that they work jointly with. Hopefully something comes out of that... but I doubt it. She said that he normally needs help in the summers but said "I don't know how far in your studies you are, but you may not hear from him." So basically I shouldn't wait.

Ugh. I want to complain about how I don't have the job I want but I know it's mostly my fault. Sometimes though I wonder why it's so hard for people to get the job they want, or perhaps it's just me. If everyone got the job they wanted then everything would be so much better for everyone. People would enjoy their jobs, there would be less bitching between employees and employers and less conflicts with customers and clients.

It's funny how last year when I had a job, I wanted a little experience but mainly worked for the money. That was easy. Now all I want is the experience and money isn't an issue. Still looking...

It's also funny how all the volunteer opportunities seem to be somewhere waaaay the fuck down in I've-never-heard-of-that-part-of-Calgary-land. It's even funnier that there isn't anything open for a 18-64 year old individual applicant looking for volunteer opportunities in the North West with a commitment time of less than six months.

Fuck. So basically it's down to this: If I want a job I want, basically in the related field [meaning something to do with EYES in case you've been wondering what this whole "job I want" was], I either have to be IN Optometry, which won't happen if I don't have the RELATED JOB EXPERIENCE. Be a Licensed Optician, which I'm not. Or, know someone that can get me a job, which I don't.

Perhaps it's a little early. Afterall I'm only just finished first year of Pre-Optometry Biomedical Sciences, which to most people's retarded remarks means I'm a fucking genius at everything and anything about the eye. Next summer I'll know to apply as soon as possible, if so, somehow arrange it before I'm even in Alberta. But if possible, perhaps find a job in Waterloo since I'll have a house for four months that we'll be paying for anyway. If I'm not there I'll have to look for someone to sublet. Of course, the problem with finding a job in Waterloo is I'm limited to very little means of transportation... not to mention anyone and everyone, it seems, in Waterloo science wants to be a fucking Optometrist. Therefore I've got more fish to compete against in a smaller body of water. [Fuck, I hate that analogy...] Spring courses at Waterloo is also an option, which is most likely what I'll do, and so is Spring courses at SAIT in Calgary to actually try and become a Licensed Optician, or perhaps Dispensing Optician... if that's not the same thing. Apparently it's available their in contrast to what the website says according to the sales associates I've talked with at Shoppers Optical. They all seem to be taking it in addition to their regular studies. Perhaps that's the field for me if I can't cut it to be an Optometrist, it's sure something I would like to do and enjoy. It may not pay the same but if I enjoy it and it's the best I can do, fine.
But on the other hand, that just doesn't cut it. If that's all I end up doing, selecting, measuring, suggesting and dispensing frames to people, that's a disappointment in life. I want to help people, I don't want to make getting frames easier and enjoyable.
There's Med School too. There's definitive rewards to what you do in a field like that that I would love, but frankly, I can't cut it doing half the courses I would need now just to get into Optometry [which is ironically harder to get into than Med School because of size].

Ugh, there's another shitty topic which I've discussed many times. Probably one too many now. My marks. I always wonder what's happened to those people that I've read or heard about that had "bad" marks their first year or how their first year was a real "wake up call". What exactly were those "bad" marks and are they doing what they want now? or are they just like me, bitching about how they couldn't cut it?

My Optometrist said to me that his first year was a "real wake up call". Now I realize it, he only had one year pre-requisite, he couldn't have done that bad if he's an Optometrist now. Then again, demand for, and want to be Optometrists weren't as high as they are now.

Well, I guess as it is now, I'm following the same path as many others, try my best, do as well as I can, apply to Optometry a few times, apply to the States. Then again, everyone else has experience with Optometry and their bad marks are 80's and 90's.

What exactly is the point of this life lesson? To show that not all prospective students that are deemed to go far by their peers and mentors will go far? You hear of only the ones that got into Optometry, and never about the ones that never did. Ironically over two thirds don't get in. I guess we'll just end up with useless degrees that can get us nowhere or perhaps start another path in education and throw out those four years.

Perhaps we'll be working together as nobody's in the back of some retail store. If so, I'll see you there.