5 jobs in 5 years and I’m 19!

The trend of working and taking a gap between their between the completion of High school and Graduate Level has been soaring up high! I wouldn’t call it a bad trend because I have been working ever since I was in the 8^th grade. Yes, you might not believe me but read on more to know what jobs I did!

I am not bragging about myself but I was a very bright student in school. Not in terms of studies but extracurricular activities. And amazingly, my school Triyog Higher Secondary School was such that it gave equal priority to both giving me a perfect platform. I loved writing since I was a small girl. My first article got published in The Kathmandu Post when I was in the 4^th grade. When I reached the 6^th grade, the frequency grew. There were at least three articles that got published every month till I was in the 8^th grade.

There is a team called Today’s Youth Asia. It is being run by Nepali nationals and it trains school going students on Personality Development and Media. They took 3 students from almost all the schools in Kathmandu and gave them trainings every Saturday at their auditorium. Luck gave me a hand and I was one of the three to get chosen from Triyog for a year’s training. It was an amazing experience. Again, not bragging too much, I was chosen to be the trainer for the upcoming batch the year I was done with my training. They told me I was the best in class. Now that made me proud and happy. So since then I started working. I started earning. It was not much of an amount but it made my parents proud and they got to talk about their daughter amidst friends.

After working there for two years, I joined St. Mary’s High School for my +2.  Since school got over at 12 and I had nothing to do the whole day, instead of stalking people on Facebook, I applied for VOW as an Editorial Intern and I got in. I worked there for 8 months. It was hectic to do doing school homework and articles on serious issues at the same time. I went back home at 12: 30, reached VOW office by 1 and worked till 5: 30, got home at 6.  I was a non paid intern there but the experience was worth every bad report card I came across at school. And I did mention earlier that I was not a good student, I was an average and am happy to have been that way. I left VOW when the boards for 11^th appeared and my parents forced me to leave the job.

I couldn’t stay stable for more than a week after finishing my 11^th boards again. I looked up for jobs online and came across an Event Managing company called, Shine Events. This was a different job for me! It was during the same working hours like VOW.  I didn’t know much about the Marketing field but my boss was kind enough to correct me every time I went wrong.  One of the best events we did was a Fashion Show. It was amazing and again, even though the salary wasn’t that good, I put it off by saying it was experience that mattered. And trust me it did. I was still young and my parents were supportive enough.

Like always, exams always got on the way. I had to leave that job because of the 12^th Board exams. After exams, I randomly applied to ECS. There was a very funny thing I did when I ran across the office in Kupondole when I was young. I always pointed towards it and said, “That’s my office”.  It was weird but it did come true.  I was the Editorial Assistant and Feature Writer for Living Magazine. It was the toughest job I had done till date. Since I was free and school got over, I worked from 9 AM to 5 PM. The working hours were never fixed. I went for work at 7 sometimes and stayed up till 10 at times. It was astonishing how co-operative my parents were. The environment, work and payment here was like that of a professional one and I could no more act like the teenager I usually was. My friends teased me about having an office button on my face. Every time I got a phone call from work, my mood switched and my voice changed and I was professional. What they didn’t realize was, even though I was their friend, I was a colleague to 30 year olds at work. After working here for over a year, I had to continue with my studies. I didn’t want to leave, it had grown to become like a home to me with attachment with my boss who was more than a sister to me and my colleagues.  But I had to quit. I cried a river on my last day when my colleagues surprised me with a cake with “Ms. Awesome” written on it. I love ECS and always will.

However, call it a miracle or I don’t know what. I had applied for a TV Program as the main anchor and two days after I left ECS, I got a phone call from them for an interview and I got in! It was something that made me a celebrity! I was happy and I jumped up and down all the time until the time we actually started shooting. It was a 3 week tour all over Nepal. The show is called Maya & Max where I am Maya. It is a travelogue with children and a program meant for kids. It was not an easy job we got up at 3 almost every day and shot till 5 in the evening. My favorite phrase was “Pack- Up”. On the verge of travelling, I got sun burnt; got bruises from falling from a bicycle but going around Nepal, meeting children, new people was just more than amazing! There was this day when I was lousy and had to do 24 takes. That is quite a much! But since I was the “Heroin” the crew members treated me like one! There was a runner boy running after me all the time, ready with an umbrella, water, makeup and my phone. The biggest lesson learnt was, never under estimate a movie!

Workspace! :)

Having worked so much by the time I am 19, I suggest everyone should work! Be it a small job or a big one! Don’t work for money, but for experience. It doesn’t give you a safe job in the future but it does give you the skill to choose between 5 different safe jobs!