Seems Like...Everyone's Working!

picture by Stephan Geyer

The minute I got home after STPM, I came home and..

Pop! Pop! Not firecrackers but some friends started chatting with me after we've fasted from Facebook for a month (seemed like ages though). First thing they asked was "what you going to do after this?"

Honestly, I have no idea at all.

The only things I know for sure after exam was getting my hair done, going for youth camp (great and chilly time there btw, it was the misty Fraser's Hill!) and Christmas. Precisely after that, I have no idea.

So I poked my nose into other's business - not something I always do but hey, exams are over! - and there's only one conclusion that I found out: Almost everyone's going to work. Some have already started the day after exams while some are going to start next year.

For every school leaver it seems like working is the most viable next option, unless your parents are the kind that enroll you in the next college in January.

I wonder what's so fun about working besides the money, sometimes. There are people who say that their bosses are mean, their colleagues gossip and the customers are fussy. Some people even say that they have been harassed at work (being female does make me more liable...oh no!). When hearing these tales I don't really look forward to working.

And then there's those who say the exact opposite: The boss is friendly and treats them out for tea, they've made tons of new buddies (who were mostly also school leavers!), and they got good pay along with valuable experiences. When I hear that I think "Hey, that ain't so bad'.

These tales were the experiences of others - it is not experienced first hand. I'd never really know what work life is like until I actually start working.

My mom and dad do encourage me to work all right - a taste of the real world, they say, and the most productive way to spend 8 months with no serious commitments coming up.

What about that piano teaching thing on the weekends? It did give me experiences with certain areas that are work related such as commitments, customers, and relating to my boss aka my piano teacher, but still it's not yet 'the wide, wide world out there' that is really going to test my patience (which I tend to have a serious lack of).

Some people have said "lucky you - you didn't have to really work all this while". But that's why I'm afraid - of the unknown. How do you expect a "blurry-eyed and fresh out of school" kid to suddenly act all adult-like and professional? I really wonder...out loud. I escaped after SPM through driving lessons but there's no escaping this time 'round.

Then there's this thing that I learned at youth camp. Surprisingly (not to brag) whenever I go to camps I expect to learn from what someone else says (which I have and everyone has) but the statement that struck me so profoundly was a Bible verse that due to the drama that I did with the girls in camp, came out of my own mouth:

"..."My [God's] grace is sufficient for you, for my [God's] power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I [this was Paul] will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:9, context brackets added)

Boasting about how afraid I am to work doesn't make sense to me on the surface - won't that make people take advantage of me? However, I want to hold on to God's promise that His power will work through my weaknesses so that I can do my best at work.

Ah, that beings me to the next question: Work as what? I'd prefer a clerical job in a legal firm to see first hand what working in the legal field is all about, and if it suits me, but the job I'd actually end up in depends on the opportunities that present themselves (and a lot of asking around.)

Until then, I'll ask...and wait...hope, and pray.

Merry 3-days-until Christmas! :)