The other day, I woke up panicking! I was going through my first “I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE” dilemma.

There are three things I have always been sure about: I have a passion for people, I have pretty strong presentation skills, and I LOVE traveling (also, dancing is the cure for all illnesses). I decided I wanted a career in Industrial Relations so I needed a Masters program that would get me there. I talked to one of my professors about it and he suggested that I strongly consider the MM program because it is a program that prepares students for all parts of business ranging from organizational behavior to marketing strategies, and that I might end up really liking another part of business instead. Clearly, I decided to take his advice but I still came in believing that a career in Industrial Relations was absolutely what I wanted.

Period 1 began and with it came a variety of classes ranging from drawing graphs (not pie charts) in Statistics to Marketing; I found out that I really liked Marketing and realized I was pretty good at this brand review stuff but my mind was still set on IR and leaning towards Recruitment. Period 2 came around and I took the non-financial route which had Employment Relationship and Organizational Behaviour courses, but also a basic Finance class. For some reason I found myself, not only understanding, but also enjoying that Finance class; who ever thought Put and Call options would be so interesting? During the freezing Calgary Christmas break I spent time with a lot of family and friends who were asking me about what I wanted to do after I was done with the MM program… THIS WAS WHEN MY PANIC REALLY BEGAN. I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore; my answer changed a little bit every time someone asked.

“How is it possible that some people in the program are narrowing down their options and I suddenly want to broaden mine?”

“I want to do Recruitment…and HR…and Branding…and a little bit of Investments…and…everything…”

“What if I take a job and then see something I might like better? OH MY GOSH! What if I don’t even get a job???”

I eventually booked an appointment with Jeff Balin and talked to him about it, he managed to calm me down (go Jeff!); apparently, this whole freaking out phenomenon is normal.

So we are now nearing the end of period 3 and Managerial Accounting is not looking too scary (ask me about this again in a week when I’m studying for finals). I’ve come to the conclusion that my Prof. was right…this is exactly why I chose the MM over anything else; it gives me the opportunity to find out what exactly the Business world has to offer me. I’m going to fully embrace the confusion because it means I am actually learning something new.

I can’t guarantee that I won’t be panicking again within the next 2 months…or 2 weeks…or 2 days…or 2 minutes but I have officially decided that I am going to look for a job where I can keep learning and contributing all I’ve learned. You never know, in ten years I might become the best Statistician in the world :D.

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