Poorwa's blog

In my last post, I talked about how it is like having acquaintances in your workplace. The post was getting a bit long so I promised to do a part 2, and here we are!! Today I’m going to share a few more of my experiences and lessons I’m learning from my first job that I’ve been doing for the past few months.

You won’t find friends everywhere and that’s okay

Life isn’t black and white. You can work with people and maintain a good relationship without necessarily being friends. And to be honest, I like it this way. The word starts losing its meaning the minute you start normalizing it, anyway. The point is that, the less you expect, the less disappointed you will be. Keep those standards high, even for friendships. Especially for friendships.

A low paying job tells you how much you’re worth quicker than anything else

When you are working, many people will tell you just how lucky you are to have your job. While they are not entirely wrong, it does not change the fact that you are getting paid for the time and effort you put in, it’s not for nothing. And I’m done with people telling me I’m making enough for a girl my age. Not anyone else but I get to tell me how much should I want and aim for.

You don’t have to make a career out of everything you like

I don’t enjoy teaching but I do like it. If that makes sense. I like it because I have this itch to share my thoughts every now and then, and being a teacher puts you in a perfect spot to do that. It was literally a dream come true for me when I gave my own essays to my students and they came next day having it memorized. But at the same time, I don’t want to be teaching 6 hours a day for much longer. Firstly, because it’s exhausting and the pay is low, and the second reason is that I have other plans and dreams that I’m finding hard to make time for due to my job.

Wherever you go there’s a lot to learn, so make use of that opportunity

My colleagues seem so comfortable with casual racism and misogyny that it makes me want to leave that place as fast as possible. But when they are not doing that and being normal people, I can’t help but admire certain traits of them that I aspire to learn too. Someone has an answer to every question of history, someone is so well-spoken that you could listen to them speak for hours, someone is so passionate about volleyball that their eyes literally lit up when they’re talking about it. There’s just so much to learn about.

Every single day with the kids at school, there’s something new. A new conflict, a new drama, a new excitement for something they’ve been looking forward to for months. I’m going to try and cherish or learn from every moment I spend with them.