by Monia Hamdy
Sometimes you know exactly what you want to do but not how to do it.
I studied at the American University of Cairo for four years and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English & Comparative Literature as well as a minor in Film. And even though I would have never imagined I would stay in my hometown for university, two years post-graduation I'm quite thankful that I did. Here's why.
I knew exactly what I wanted to do after graduating, but not exactly how to do it. A few years ago, I built my own travel website and Instagram page (Empire Traveller). A creative platform that allowed me to fulfill some of my biggest passions: writing, traveling, and curating a vision. It started out as a hobby, then gradually turned into a serious career goal. I took an entire year off post-graduation pursuing my "career of passion" - traveling and writing about it, and then realizing that that wasn't enough to get me where I needed to be.
So I started searching for similarly creative jobs to take in Cairo, and the closest I could find in my area of expertise and within my liking was a part-time copywriting opportunity at a fashion agency. I went for an interview in September and patiently awaited their feedback. A few days later, a friend of mine messaged to ask if I would be interested in filling in as a social media and content manager for a travel company based in London until they found somebody else in-house. I thought: why not? It was a good way to kill time until I found something permanent in Cairo, and a chance to do something I'm already quite familiar with because of Empire Traveller. I immediately said yes, did a phone-interview for approval, and began the very next day. And that's how I landed the job I've had for the past year.
After my "temporary" fill-in month was over, the company took me on board and I became a part of their team. It was perfect for me. I got to do something I'm passionate about (managing and creating content, copywriting, editing, etc) and I was lucky enough to work remotely; meaning I could work from anywhere in the world. It gave me the freedom to keep working on personal goals, as well as the discipline of having a full-time job. That's probably the number one reason I chose to stick with it. I've definitely learned a lot in the past year. I picked up new skills along the way (from coworkers and research, as well as from making mistakes) and even learned a few things about
myself. Some things this past year really taught me are time management, creative team work, and how to mentally/emotionally separate between my personal life and work life (something I absolutely could not do the first few months)! But I have to say my biggest realization is that I can't always keep a perfect balance between my job and what I want to achieve on a personal level (in terms of turning my passion into a full-time career). But I'm also learning that that's okay, too. It's okay to put your goals on hold until the right time to properly pursue them; and that's definitely what I see myself doing in the future. I'm thankful I landed (yes, by chance!) a career path that totally fits me and my goals. Because it just means I'm closer to fulfilling my dream career.
WRITTEN BY
Monia Hamdy
Monica without a C. Writing, traveling, and capturing moments in between.
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