Sharing my insights and positive experiences

To those who finds this post, let me start off with a description of myself.

I finished a Certificate program in 2018 and have been working at a local hospital for the past 7 years. Last summer, July 2024, my grandma suddenly passed away and I was hit with grief. Which impacted my every-day-life. I was off work for 8 months, attended grief counselling, grief support group, and I felt my life came to a stop. I could not function, my mind had shut down and I didn't know what I felt anymore, aside from weight of sadness. During those 8 months, the grief counselling, where I saw a counsellor once a week, and with the grief support group, where we met up once a week for 3 months, really helped. I felt alone in the grief because my family did not react the same way to grandma's passing. This was my mum's mum, my parents flew back home to attend her funeral, while my brother and I stayed here. My brother didn't even need to take any days off from work, and I got the news of her passing, during my shift. Which immediately hit me rock hard, I tried going back to work after the weekend, but I could not function. My mum took me on a 10-day cruise trip in September 2024, get some mother-daughter time alone, talk about grandma, and plan to go visit her at her grave in December. When December came, we got another sudden news, my dad's brother suddenly passed away too. He was found unconscious in bed at home by my Aunt, then, he was in a coma in the hospital for 3 days, before he passed away in his sleep. So last December, my family went back home to attend his funeral, visit my grandma at her grave, and went on a mini vacation to Japan.

After returning from the trip, I didn't go back to work until mid-February 2025. Working in a hospital, I went back to work on the Gradual Return to Work program, which for me, lasted for 2 months. Returning to work felt different, as when I first heard the news about my Grandma, the coworkers on my team were not at all supportive or understanding. So, I suddenly that the thought of wanting to leave this hospital I had worked at for the past 7 years, that was also close to home (a 5 minute drive away).

So, mid-March, I started looking for work at a different hospital, a different health authority altogether. I sent in my resume to a hospital that's like an hour drive away, got a response in two weeks, and was set-up with an interview the second week of April. From then on, my life changed for the better.

The interview was in the morning, although it was an hour long, within the first 30 minutes, the Manager says "You're hired". So I was interviewed by the Manager and the Supervisor that arranged the interview, halfway through, another Supervisor joined us in the office. So after the "you're hired", the second Supervisor was already adding me to their system, requesting a staff ID #, and arranged for my month-long orientation, which started the second week of May. As the position I applied for, the line starts June 5th, so I had to finish my Orientation before that day, June 3rd.

Here are the positive experiences, mid-July, the first Supervisor pulled me aside during my shift one day, and said she would like to appoint me to become a Clinical Instructor for the College that offers the Certificate Program, the education that is needed to work as a Tech (what I'm doing now). Of course, I've accepted the opportunity, as teaching was a second dream of mine. So by early August, I had an interview with the College and was hired by them. In September, I was able to assistance in the Theory portion of the class over 2 weekends. I have my first cohort of six students in February 2026. I am super excited. I had felt happier at this hospital, the moment I heard the "you're hired" from the Manager, as she also mentioned, I was the first candidate that she has ever hired on the spot. This shows that the visions I have in regards of my career aligns with the Management Team and I have their full support. 

Honestly, ever since I started working at this hospital, I do feel a lot more happier and confident. I made a good decision to leave the other hospital and I have rekindled the passion I have for the work that I do, something that I lost for the past 5 years. I am a lot more open, as I've found myself speak up in situations where I wouldn't have said a word years ago. For example, I now take public transit twice a week (I work part-time, 4 days). There was a time where on the bus, one of the ads overhead was dangling, because of the wind from an opened window and the bus driver kept stopping abruptly. When I got off at my stop, I actually spoke up to the driver, telling him about the dangling ad (as it was right above one of the exit doors). My thought was, he'd better fix it before it falls on someone's head. Although it's just like a long rectangular poster board, but it could still cause a paper cut or something if it falls on someone. Looking back to a fews years ago, I probably wouldn't have said anything about it. 

Looking ahead of me now, I feel that my life is finally getting back on track, as I turn 39 next month, and I get to achieve that second dream of mine, teaching. I can see things are changing in a positive direction for me. This is really like a new chapter of my life. 

I just wanted to share my experience with you. It's never too late to make career changes, and I find that it's important to keep moving forward, despite it being small steps. We might feel stuck at times, but know that it is okay. We all hit a wall multiple times in our lives, but it doesn't mean it's permanently in our way. That wall will break down, if not, you will find ways to climb over it. Don't give up or lose hope, even if you're just hanging on by the thread.

Cheers~