Career roller coaster

I had a chat with my colleague at work, who's two years younger than me. I have always tried to be a positive person and I tend to highlight the beautiful story of my life. 

For some reason, I slipped out few things that are kind of negative, and his feedback was unexpected. He said, 'I'm thankful that I don't have to go through those'.

Thinking back of my years in company, I often thought of the good memories. Each year, I have gained new experiences that I treasure and cherish. Technical wise, I am getting more and more comfortable sharing knowledge and discussing strategies, decisions and way forwards. We, together as a team, have passed many milestones together. I also got the opportunity to be involved in many extra curricular activities and volunteering for events. The platform for networking is so wide! 

Along with the professional experience, I am blessed to meet new friends and we went for adventures together. They are my support system, and I am very thankful for them. However, for the record, I also went through hard times, and on some days, my friends were the only driver to come to work. Losing motivation and being discouraged can be triggered by so many things. It can be internal, i.e., my own defects or external, i.e. bosses, environment. I was bored with the same routine. How did I deal with this? I escaped. Three years of working had given me enough reason to push the pause button. 

Taking a break was not an easy decision but it was handy provided that I have an amazing support system. My mom, my sisters, my colleagues, my friends. They were my strength. And when I did my Master's degree, I was also blessed with awesome friends. Completing thesis was really hard for me, so I am thankful for Dr KA for his commitment and guidance to ensure I graduated on time. The thesis that I made really meant the world to me. It's a proof my productivity, my effort (of course with the push of many people), my resilience and my determination to get something done. 

Alhamdulillah, everything worked out just fine, but my worry did not stop just right there. I was really nervous about coming back to work. I had so many thoughts in my mind.. it didn't start very well.. but Allah has placed me, back then, with the most perfect team at the most perfect timing. Alhamdulillah. I am beyond grateful for Allah's plan. Now, after 3 years of being with the same team, I had gained so much new knowledge, confidence, skills and experience. I think I'm ready for new adventure but first, I want to finish off one last drilling campaign, insyaAllah. 

So, I said to my colleague after giving it some thoughts, 'Yes, you are indeed very lucky'.