By education, I am an environmental scientist; but by profession, I am nothing close to being a scientist. In fact, I can't even recall ever working in my capacity as an environmental scientist. The only activities that still keep me close to my educational background are the online courses I enroll into once in a while.
Despite the increasing effort of globalization and the tonnes of financial advice out there advocating for financial freedom, the predominant mentality in these climes is still the same: Go to school; get a good grade; get a good job; start building your life/career gradually.
But after reading Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad in 2011, I decided I do not want a life that's dependent on monthly paychecks. I do not want to be involved in what he termed "the rat race." Also, my early exposure to the internet made me realize the knowledge gap that exists between developing and developed countries.
While studying Chemistry in university, most of my time was spent in learning theoretical principles with little to no practical applications. We were taught several reaction mechanisms but we never saw it in action. News from guys who travelled for further education in the developed countries was not encouraging either.
I vividly remember a lecturer talking about how he struggled, when he travelled to the US as a PhD student, to operate equipment for simple analysis. Luckily for him, an undergraduate walked by and put him through. He'd heard about the equipment before but never operated it despite having a Masters degree. There and then, my suspicions were confirmed. Educationally, we are not on par with the outside world.
I had always wanted to be a global citizen, a person who can get to any place in the world and thrive. To do that, I needed a leveller. I needed something I can do that puts me on par with anyone in that field at any place in the world. Since we are well behind in education already, I had to find another path.
Before I finished my undergraduate education, I enrolled for an Oracle course. I couldn't write the certification exam because the available funds were only enough to complete my undergraduate project. And with little to no opportunity for jobs as a database administrator back then, I moved onto the next one.
Despite completing my second degree some years back, I still wasn't too keen on settling for a job. This led to some haphazard movement in my career till I settled down for freelancing in 2019. Since then I've had peace of mind and space to grow. However, the pressure is growing lately.
Despite doing far better than an average salary earner, my folks believe I'm wasting away as a remote worker. In the last year or so they've ramped up the pressure on me to get a day job that allows me to leave the house more. For some reasons, they believe I'd fare better out there than sitting behind a computer on a daily basis.
At first I was able to repel them but now I'm seriously considering my options. I know I can go out there and get a decent job as an environmentalist. I also know I'd be lucky to get one that will pay me as much as I earn now from remote working. However, my major worry is how quickly remote works can disappear. And how difficult it can be to find a sustainable one for the long haul.
I started as a transcriber in 2019. By 2020, AI took over most transcription jobs and I was under-employed for two months before landing what I do now. Even with this one, I've lost some sections of work to AI already.
Will it still be here in the next 5 years? I do not know. Issues with PayPal can as well be influential.
Are there rival companies who need the exact service I provide now? There are some, but they are not accessible to people from my geographic location.
That means if the particular gig I'm on disappears, I'll be out in the cold once again. With that in mind, my stance has softened.
Last week I got picked for the 3MTT stuff to be trained on Data Analytics. As interesting as it felt, the ever changing landscape of work in the computer and programming sector means I'm sceptical about the next step. For me, this is not the time for another career trial by error.
I think I'm at a crossroads right now, and I'll have to make a decision very soon. I hope I head in the right direction.
