Searching for work (part 4)

During my work experience, I kept looking for other positions.  I did find a few opportunities volunteering in non-profit offices where they needed an extra hand during their busy season.  I also found a paid position monitoring exams at a college.  My worker and I dropped off my resume at a certification school for medical professionals.  The coordinator asked if I wanted to be added to the list of exam monitors, with the warning that it wasn't very often, but they would pay me. They called me to monitor a lady writing an exam for half a day, and I helped out at their two-day conference.  I was scheduled to work all day on both Friday and Saturday.  I finished up my tasks earlier on Saturday and asked what else I could do but they let me leave early.  I never heard from them again.  All of those opportunities made me more excited to reach the end of my work experience and start a real job with consistent pay and regular hours.

Shelving was becoming easier and more routine too and I was interested in adding  new tasks. I was planning to bring it up at the six-month evaluation, but then the manager explained that they couldn't pay me because of my disability.  I don't know the reason behind the decision, but it made me mad. Still, the manager agreed that I could stay on until I found another job.

I was at the bookstore for another three years while I handed out numerous resumes all over the city.  Initially, I kept looking in the Northwest (where I lived) or downtown but then I started looking anywhere and everywhere. I didn't have a single job interview in those three years, but I kept hearing about how they would keep my resume on file. I started thinking, "I can't be happy in a job knowing that I am not getting the respect I deserve because people can't see past my disability." I decided that I would start my own business and hire myself instead of waiting for someone to hire and pay me. As you can see, I have already started taking steps towards this goal and I will keep pursuing it throughout my life.

Around this time my program with PACE ended and I started looking at other agencies. I decided on the Progressive Alternatives Society of Calgary (PASC). We sat down and talked about what I wanted out of my life and possible ways to reach those goals.  One of the first things we did was to investigate different businesses. This started me down my path of going back to school and becoming a graphic designer.