They say that change is never easy. I’ve never been quite sure who ‘they’ are, but in my case ‘they’ are wrong.
Three years ago I was transferred from a comfy accounting job at the TDSB, to Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute. Now, don’t get me wrong… I did have a few reservations about working in a high-school office. After all, I wasn’t too familiar with the neighbourhood and I had heard that working with some students could be quite a handful. (Truthfully, it wasn’t so long ago that I was on the other side as a student myself.) However, within the first couple of weeks at LP, I was hooked.
My first real encounter with a student was a young lady who had her blackberry stolen. It must be noted this was in 2010, and the blackberry was more important to most students than their classes. I know what you’re thinking… “He’s going to tell us he retrieved the phone and how wonderful he is.” Not exactly. I failed miserably at my first detective case, but deserved an “A” for effort, right? More importantly though (for me, probably not for her) I realized I was feeling empathy while getting to know many LP students and that this work environment was going to be quite the memorable experience for me.
A few months later I was given the opportunity to coach the school hockey team. I had played hockey my whole life and been witness to thousands of ‘pep talks’, so I thought, “How hard could this be?” Then they told me it was to coach 17 young ladies. I gave it some thought but made my decision to accept rather quickly in keeping with my usual style….and boy, was I ever glad I did. After the first game, I was truly stunned how talented, intelligent, and attentive these young ladies were. We ended up winning the Regional Championship, and yes, we do sign autographs. The experience was incredible for me, probably something many others may not truly understand…and this was just a microcosm of my entire three-year experience at LawrencePark.
Then came another one of life’s curveballs. Due to the bureaucracy that is the TDSB, many employees with too few years of service got transferred or lost their jobs. My tenure in the role did not survive the budget attack. Faced with the decision of transferring to a different school or severing my ties with the TDSB, I chose the latter quite quickly.
Why, you may ask? I simply decided I would miss the LP community too much. Sounds cheesy, right? But sometimes cheesy things just happen to be true. Thankfully, an LP father kindly offered his time to help explain the real estate industry to me….something that had always piqued my interest. Through many discussions, it became clear to me this industry is truly a ‘people’ business that requires paramount levels of honesty, integrity and trust. The ability to make instant friendships is an important factor – and this resonated perfectly for me. I’ve been doing that since I was a tyke. As part of the knowledge that’s been shared with me, my mentor explained it’s important to have a ‘niche market’, for example, a specific area to specialize in. All my thoughts immediately focused on this great community I’d come to know and love over the past three years.
The decision to switch to real estate was quick, but not without deep consideration. The point is, however, that change is not supposed to be feared. It usually arises from a situation where things are not ideal, and if things never changed we’d still be in the dark ages. Not knowing what’s on the other side is always a tad scary, but what’s more scary is doing something that doesn’t make you happy. I have chosen a career path now where I can build stronger relationships in the community and work closely with the people I’ve come so much to enjoy over the past three years. It’s a big transition for me, but this change is good. I feel amazing about my new career path.