Part Four of Into The Looking Glass… (Click here for Part One), which is a look back at where I’ve come from as both a person and a writer. I’ve been through many trials in my days, however I will leave full disclosure for perhaps a professional autobiography if I manage to make it as a writer and worm my way into media somehow. For now, enjoy my path, picking up where I left off amid the turmoil of working two jobs and attending university as well as throwing a lady into the mix.

If you’d allow, I’ll back track a little bit. As I graduated high school I was still working at the theatre and a friend of mine was setting up a huge movie night with a bunch of our co-workers. I had been actively chasing after this one young lady, who did enjoy my company and the fact I always paid for snacks. But as I began to realize things weren’t going to actually turn into a relationship, I got frustrated and just abandoned that ship before it began to sink. My lovely friend swung by and saw me all dishevelled and I told him what had happened. He looked around and guaranteed me he’d find me a date for the movie. Impressive, I thought to myself, I can’t even get myself a date but he’s confident he can find me one. I believe he may have had some insider information, because that night I had a date.

Now we can zip back to where I left off last time during university and working two jobs. It was a struggle juggling all of that and a relationship but somehow we managed to make things work. Well, by work I mean we just managed. Not everything went smoothly as both of us were working hard to achieve something. I was dead set on being the first in my immediate family to graduate university. She was heading into working with special needs children. But as my girlfriend got more stressed, she starting getting sick. Eventually she caved and told me she had an auto immune disorder and it flared up once in awhile. After seeing many trends of her getting stressed and then sick, I had to break my own routine and tell her what I was observing. She knew it was happening but she couldn’t stop it, so I had to step in. Many a night did I clean the house, make supper and put her to bed against her will before she got sick. Eventually she hadn’t been sick in a very long time which was a win for the both of us.

However working with special needs kids can be both rewarding and exhaustingly stressful. I watched her mother do it day in and day out and with her illness, she would spend a month working and then a month not. As we discussed her future, mine came up as well. At this point I was beginning to get sick as well, mostly from pushing myself to do school and work until I could literally do neither. She suggested I take some time off and I suggested she change career paths. So we both took some time to relax and think about where we were both headed. I decided that one more day in front of a computer screen alone in a cubicle would break me as a person and decided to take a more creative route despite enjoying the problem solving of programming. My girlfriend on the other hand began short courses in art and design, and found she was really finding a passion for interior design. As I saw her designs unfold, I pushed for her to pursue it professionally as she had a knack for it and she was a people person.

That fall I switched from Computer Science at a reputable university, to 3D animation through distance education. I loved the program and I loved creating things from scratch, and turning simple objects like cylinders into sports cars or even people! Sadly for me, as the program neared a close the recession began in Canada so getting a job with my portfolio was near impossible. Especially after I saw some people from Pixar had moved back to Nova Scotia and had been hired over me. I understood, he made a little animation of Nemo which blew me away. All I had was a funky animation mimicking a rube goldberg machine (No idea what it is? Click Here) of what happens when you turned on a Nintendo Entertainment System (Watch the video here!). So sadly I focused on my career in retail. Lucky for me an Assistant Manager position opened up at the EB Games I was working at so I cut the theatre and got the job there.

My EB Games years would prove incredible. My passion and knowledge for the product made me a shoe-in for the sales position and my attention to detail and hard working nature made me fantastic for management. As the two sides blended into one, I eventually claimed ownership over that store. I grew the business from less than half a million dollars the year before I took over to over a million and beyond before I left. I turned a small store that was only considered an overflow store into a competitor in the neighbourhood. I had a charming staff and I picked a bunch of gamers and taught them business and professionalism. Through this my store was the most knowledgeable and arguably the smoothest running with little to no turnover of staff. The clientèle I gained were some of my favourite customers, some would come work for me, and others would remain as friends even to this very day. But as all good things must come to an end, my girlfriend found a school for interior design out near my best friend and we began planning the move.

As we moved across the country, I got excited to see my best friend again and for a fresh start. I wouldn’t be staying with EB Games, however a new chapter was about to begin. Sadly what I couldn’t see was another chapter closing right before my eyes. But I’ll save that for my next entry. For now, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy both the video and the post today! Remember comments below or email me!