Entry 3: The Geometry of the Midnight Oil

The Discipline of a Shift

Time is the most expensive currency I own. High school is not even as much as University will be, I just know it. Now, my days are very much dictated by bells, assignments, and pressure from almost everyone. I am dedicated to my education, and it is almost an issue because I cannot simply neglect my studies. Unfortunately, this creates a powerful double shift in my life. Once the school day ends and the homework is finished, my second life as an entrepreneur begins. Sometimes I can’t even get into practice because of my simple volunteer work with youth, and even though it is fun, I feel as if I haven’t accomplished my goals. I am constantly seeking a balance between these worlds, and it is gruelling.

Being strict about my planning is a blessing and a curse. Down to every nitty gritty detail, I love to plan, but a startup business is inherently chaotic, I have had to teach myself a new level of time management, one that accounts for the hours that I have spent troubleshooting a difficult seam on a garment or attempting to research more effective marketing strategies after midnight. I am trying my best though, and my marketing teachers class has provided excellent resources for this, so even though at times it is bad, as a whole, it’s cool that I get to experience a life being busy like this.

I have come to understand that I do not have the luxury of waiting for the correct time to begin a business. If I continue to wait until I have no other responsibilities, I will be waiting forever. Instead, I am going to continue to sew in the gaps of my time, making sure that everything that I do never feels like a chore. I will never stop drafting patterns while I wait for dinner or researching suppliers as I sit on the bus to go to school. Every single hour that I steal from my busy schedule is an investment in my future student. I cannot be tied to the label of just a student, and I am not tied to the label of just a seamstress. Instead, I am an architect of time, building a career out of the minutes that most would waste, and I am proud of what I have done.