I was 18 when this site started. I was pretty naïve about a lot of things, but I had a bit of ambition as far as my career was concerned. Over time I got increasingly frustrated by how hard it was to find a job and how unfairly the places that did hire me treated their staff. At one workplace I was a kitchen hand, and the manager would take home the tip jar for the front workers. He also expected us to log some of our hours on an 'off the books' arrangement that paid less than our taxed pay anyway, and I was fired pretty quickly when I never did so. I ended up delivering for a pizza place that was even worse and would pay $5 cash for each delivery. I was working around 60 hours per week there in 2017 and taking home around $500(AUD) most weeks. I was able to save a decent bit of money by the middle of the year and then I met my ex. I was pretty new to serious relationships and basically let her push me around and gaslight me for months on end because I didn't know how to respond. She'd continuously brush it aside when I said I wanted to talk, and eventually it just built up until I called her out on every one of her actions (without being harsh or namecalling, mind you) and since she tried to flip the whole topic once again, I ended it there at the start of 2018 and haven't spoken with her since.

I was pretty far behind on my loan repayments for the car I'd purchased in 2017 since I'd pissed all of my savings away on my ex and taken up smoking while we were dating (which is insanely expensive in Aus due to taxing on tobacco being through the roof). So it was pretty comforting to learn I'd been offered an apprenticeship as an automotive technician, a job I'd wanted since I was 16. I was also offered an internship as an analyst for an AFL club (a different sporting league, but essentially our equivalent to the NFL) which I of course accepted because it was also something I wanted to do for a long term job. I was a bit of a dumbass and both jobs saw me working at the other as a lack of commitment to their respective pathways so I lost my apprenticeship and was demoted to the same work but at the football club's state team for the 2019 season. I also met a girl in the morning of 1 January, 2018 while I was walking home after a new years party. I'd worked with her while I was a kitchen hand in 2016 and we hit it off again, both being familiar with each other and similarly jaded about bad past relationships. We spent a lot of weeknights that year drinking and dancing to her bluetooth speaker's music at a park near her house after dark lol. Surprise surprise we started dating in 2019 and it's basically been exactly what I pictured of a perfect relationship ever since. Like, legit. Words can't describe how good and caring of a person she is, and we couldn't be happier.

At the end of 2019 I wasn't offered any form of work from the sports club I was working at, as they had exhausted their 2 years of Volunteer work allowed under the Fair Work act, and weren't willing to pay me for my work despite the fact I was commencing study in a relevant degree for 2020. So basically fuck 'em. I've had a lot of trouble getting through this degree (especially during the CoVid period where it was online only, but we're back to face-to-face learning now) and I'm in the process of seeking treatment/diagnosis for my inability to focus that's plagued me my entire adult life. The GP I've been seeing agrees that a lot of signs point towards ADHD/ADD, and I'm being referred to a Psychiatrist for proper diagnosis and treatment so hopefully that goes well. I'm pretty set on getting this degree and maybe moving towards a motorsports team as a property manager or something. I have the experience, skills and connections to back it up, but apparently the degree is the biggest necessity of the lot. I still have 2 and a half years left to go, but I'm feeling pretty good about this. Also I've been streaming more on twitch lately (esp. Melee locals) and I've recently gotten affiliate so I can get at least a little on the side.