A post about taking risks
Just a little over a year ago, I quit my engineering job. I had been working as a Biomedical Engineer for almost 3 years and spent the previous 4 years studying it in college, but decided to leave it all behind. You might think, "Yup, he's just another millennial." MMmmm no.
I quit because I knew that engineering was no longer something that I was passionate about and could not see myself doing it for the rest of my life. How did I get to this conclusion? Well, I got to meet awesome engineers along the way, some of the best, and I just couldn't see myself doing what they were doing, and to be honest, being happy while doing it. So, I prepared to quit.
I began thinking about what I could do. I thought about things like:
"Well maybe I could do weddings?" My wedding work hadn't taken off yet, HUGE RISK
"Maybe I can go to a coding camp, they make a ton of money" I've learned that I find happiness from just having the necessities, and I can't spend all day in front of a computer
I sought wisdom/advice by talking to my friends, peers and people in industries that I was interested in. A big challenge here was that I was seeking advice on how to go about changing careers and what's best for me, but sometimes I found myself trying to seek answer/solutions because I was afraid of the risk. In life, there will be really tough decisions to make, but being able to go through it early on will prepare you for the tougher ones that will come later in life. So after all the talking and consulting, I had a plan. It didn't have great structure and there were still a lot of uncertainties, but it was a plan. The next thing I had to do was to get my parents' approval.
With my dad being an engineer, I think my parents take pride in that both their sons studied engineering. That's why I had to have a plan before I quit my job. And after going over everything that I had been thinking and planning, they came to be able to support me in my decision and kept reminding me to trust in Jesus (Joshua 1:9).
For the sake of keeping this post short, I'm just going to skip over 2 things:
- After Allen & Eug's wedding video and feature, wedding work came flowing in
- I went to Chicago for a Design Bootcamp, which was amazing and definitely something that I recommend and will have a separate post for later.
After finishing up my Design program and shooting all the fall weddings, I began applying for jobs. During this application process, I had moments of being super excited, and times where I felt like it was going to be an endless process. But from my engineering background, I knew how to be persistent and to keep working hard. I went through many design challenges and interviews, got to meet awesome people, who provided me great with feedback on my designs, portfolio and my presentations. And I feel this, ultimately, set me up for my interview with BL3NDlabs, which ended up offering me a position.
So, starting this January, I'll be working as a Jr. UX/UI Designer in San Diego. This will begin my new journey as a Designer and I'm completely thrilled, but this post isn't to announce my new job, it's to share my experience, hoping that it can be of help for others.
For those of you that are wanting to make a similar decision to make a career change and aren't sure about how to go about it, this is for you. If you're young and still get insurance from your parents, I highly encourage you to take as many risks as possible, to find out what it is that you're passionate about and to possibly make a career out of it.
- Take risks, not a gamble
- Talk to people, peers and those in the industries that you're interested in
- Create a plan with a timeline
- Stick to your plan
- Have a reason for all your decisions
And once you've gone through all the preparations, go for it. I definitely could not have done this on my own and without God's sovereignty because I met some really amazing people during this process and am excited for this new chapter in my life.