When Passion is Missing: Navigating Early Career Missteps

After I completed Year 12, I began arts at Monash University. At the end of the first semester, I was dragging my legs with the dry content in lectures. It felt like a waste of my time. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. I heard about a course called Jet Set Travel training, a six-month course in the city, which would give me a Certificate IV in Tourism and a job in travel. During that course, I went on a boat cruise to New Caledonia, which was a good experience. After qualifying, I fluked a job at a popular airline and stayed there for a year.

Early on, I received a talking-to from the boss. Sitting behind a computer all day, plugging in bookings and dates for travelers, was neither a strength nor an interest of mine. I seemed to be booking things incorrectly. One time, I accidentally entered the meal code for a baby meal when one of their best customers had requested a bland meal. A month later, he phoned me, enraged when he was served a baby meal.