And so it ended like that. No big Bang. Just a subtle
finish, slightly built up, and not a stare back over my shoulder as I took the
final stride forwards, towards my car, away from that building. A good luck
card clutched in one hand. My uniform in
the other. And that was it. That capped my 5 years doing part-time work in
retail. 5 long years. It’s finally time; I’m finally out and ready show the world
what I can give.
Everyone that knew congratulated as I tried to remain coy, I didn't organise a leaving party, I just wanted to disappear and become a
memory. “Well done for escaping this place!” was rung out to me by the vast
majority of my colleagues that did know. No, I wasn't escaping, retail has been
good to me in the past 5 years, ironically those 5 years was the exact same
time I spent learning my future career, and even more ironically, I suppose,
retail has helped me become a retail designer. I wasn't escaping retail, I was
merely passing on and beginning a new branch of life that retail had led me on.
God it feels good knowing that I do not have to return. But I’ll
miss it. I enjoyed it whilst I was there. But I was ready to leave.
Someone I consider wise beyond their years once told me, “You
have to work retail to understand retail.”
I’m 21. ‘Just got my first real, full-time job, which I've been learning and wanting to do since I was 15. I’m lucky. I graduated at 20. I've made this happen. So here’s to the next 5 years, I’m going to learn and awful
lot more now. And I believe, I’m in the best possible place to begin the next 5
years. Like I said earlier, I’m so, so lucky.
with Thanks to Morrisons for their help in my commitments to learning and helping to shape my future, Huddersfield and Hadleigh.
