Attitude Makes Latitude
When I was under 18 I thought work had to be a 9-5 activity that you are either okay with at best, or that you deeply despised at worst. This caused my first job to be a self-fulfilling prophecy that made me depressed about the future.
Getting Filled Instead of Crushed
Initially my first job was like that. Suffice to say I did not last long in that position. The worst part of that work is that it made me depressed about the future because I imagined having to do the same work all my life, and it filled me with dread.
I would have been stuck in a cycle of getting then losing jobs like this until 2023, when I was introduced to a more nontraditional work structure.
Contract Work Means Flexibility In The ‘When” and “How” of Work
In 2023 I got some opportunities for contract work. I had never heard of contract work for anything outside of the trades, and while the work was temporary, the flexibility of contact work was fantastic.
My first opportunity for contract work was as a Point In Time (PIT) count surveyor. In this role, I was able to truly see what homelessness looked like. I believe this experience has been invaluable as I study to become a social worker.
My second contract job evolved from when I was a student at a nonprofit job readiness program. Upon program completion, they offered Alumni the opportunity to work as teachers’ assistants. I helped students get connected to resources and opportunities they needed for work and school supplies, housing help, car repairs etc. In addition because this program is helping me get my drivers license, I am able to help my peers pass their permit test, just like the organization helped me get mine. I was a youth voice helping others feel safer in the program because one of us was there representing them.
The best part is that through building tight connections to the nonprofit, I was able to offer to bring the program to my low opportunity desert city and the organization was receptive to my offer. This was the first time I spoke to a person with decision making power and the first time I experienced a boss figure respecting my input despite my being often dismissed as a young punk kid.
My third, and most recent, position as a contractor was as a community liaison to help what would otherwise be populations unlikely to have access to scuba diving. I assist them to get several levels of scuba certification to become citizen scientists collecting data in order to maintain our beautiful California ocean ecosystem.
As a community liaison. I make sure participants log into the zoom training sessions for the class portions, keep track of the progress of participants to get their online scuba lessons finished before their in-water practice, organize trips to attend swim lessons for those who may not know how to swim, and much more. I have always wanted to scuba dive, so going from being a participant of the program to being able to help the next cohort as a peer was an exciting opportunity. This was also the exact kind of advocacy role that contract work has taught me that I enjoy.
Contractor Flexibility Showed Me That Work Can Be Joyful
This is all to say that I did not think work could be fun or align with my personal goals and interests. Being able to work to help get data from the unhoused people in my city to hopefully advocate for more resources for them while giving them gift cards that made their day better was a valuable experience. Being able to help get my peers connected to resource grants they need just by writing about their story feels like magic. And honestly, what could be better than helping others learn to scuba dive completely for free?
I am 21 as of the end of April 2024, and I will take these opportunities I learned through doing contract work well into the future. I am 5 trimesters away from graduating with my Bachelor’s of Social Work. After that I will move onto my masters and the incredibly long credentialing process to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). I have already seen several opportunities where I can freelance with this education, and I can make work -work- for me, and not the other way around. I have learned that I can have flexibility in contracting work where I can specifically only do the work I see value in and want to do.
It seems so radical that you can actually have your values be rewarded just by changing how you approach work. I haven’t graduated, and yet I have already found some venues for work that are incredibly fulfilling and that actually make me feel energized when I clock in. I didn’t know that it was possible to just change the type of work status you are classified as to make such a big difference.
I have never been one to tolerate being broken up to fit into a mold, or micromanaged, but as a contractor I am trusted to fulfill the set expectations because either side can withdraw if the work quality or the work itself is not meeting your needs or expectations. It’s so good to be able to focus my values in my work and to feel like I am making a difference while being paid for the effort I put in. I am appreciative of the opportunities that opened up through being in the right place at the right time and to learn that I can do work in this way. I feel like I have saved myself from many years of unhappiness because I know early on what kind of work works for me.