A New Path

I was playing chess in a park a few days ago. Someone told me he had read a lot of books about chess in his spare time and asked me where I got my strategy for the game. I explained to him working in Alaska for years I would play Russian Deckhands I met on a boat or while I was in a port. That’s how I got good at the game.

If he wanted to get better at chess he should stop reading books about it and start playing more games. That way he could come up with his own strategies. Just like everything else, you can only learn so much from books. You actually have to do something to get good at it.

The next day I was running errands and saw a school for The Arts. Since I’ve been painting and drawing as a hobby since I was13 or 14 years old I thought I’d check it out. I have already looked into going to a local community college next semester and wanted to see what they offered.

I’ve been going to college part time for a while pretty much to stay busy. I thought since I can’t do labor jobs any more maybe getting a degree would be a good thing while I’m collecting disability. I seem to get good grades and I’m good at math.

The thing is the classes aren’t interesting. I would spend a lot of time on my school projects, typing reports up and printing them out and trying to remember to email them to myself or save them on a flash drive. When I was done I had an assignment or school paper in my hand. It seemed to me I was putting effort into something and not really getting anything done. I was just staying busy and spinning my wheels.

I’ve done construction labor, commercial fishing, and warehouse labor jobs. I could always see what I was getting done. I was used to building something or finishing up loading or unloading cargo holds and semi-trucks. Having a few typed up pages in my hand after hours of working on a class assignment didn’t feel like I was getting any done that was real.

After explaining this to the people in the school admissions office and telling them I was an artist in my spare time and had even some drawings and dream catchers at the local art walks, a lady showed me the courses they offered. She also told me the requirements for enrollment which included a portfolio of some of my art.

One of the courses I saw they offered was called Interior Architecture. After reading the information brochure it seemed like a good fit for the construction and labor background I have.  It’s designing the interior of new buildings and also designing remodel construction jobs. That seems like something I’d like to do and could be good at.

There’s still some work for me to do like get a portfolio of my art together. That shouldn’t be a problem. I can always draw a few things up. I’m also trying to get pictures of the ceramics projects I gave away as Christmas gifts mailed to me.

It will be good to be working towards something I’m interested in instead of trying to stay busy. I hope everyone out there finds a line of work they like doing

Written by Mark Blevins

Thank You For Reading

About Me:

I was a Construction Worker and Commercial Fisherman. An injury on a fishing boat in Alaska forced me into early retirement. Now I’m a Writer and Blogger. Having to start over forced me to realize people are more than their job title.

Contact me at mark_blevins1@morethanatitle. net and follow me onTwitter  https://twitter. com/Bllevins