I get why my parents are so tired after work

Katerina Boyadjieva
IVM

It’s been two months since the start of the DPS Year and things are not slowing down. Even while working two jobs simultaneously I still find myself looking for more opportunities and I try to plan out every day so I can get the most out of this year. I wouldn’t say there was much that surprised me, as I have freelanced for a couple of years now. But there was still a lot I didn’t really consider before that.
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The animation studio I interned for, for example, was really quiet, it wasn’t a big team, it felt a lot like a family – easy going but also firm when work needs to get down. I was surprised by the way they treated me – it wasn’t just like an intern but as a proper member of the team and in a really short amount of time I went from illustrator, to creating a storyboard, and even creating assets for the upcoming animation they employed me for. They were very professional, and the pay was a lot for an internship, it was an overall surprisingly pleasant experience. But, there’s always a ‘but’, working a 8.30am to 6pm job is exhausting. I no longer wonder why my dad always comes home tired. I really thought office work wasn’t as tiring as it actually was, even though it was time spent doing something I like I still needed a good rest after every day.

Because of that sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to get out of bed and start working. (especially if your commute is an hour long and you live in London... rush hour is inhumane) But what keeps me going is the fact that I do enjoy working after all. The feeling you get from finishing a project you’re proud of is the same of seeing your friends succeed – pure happiness. You can see that you get more out of it than you put into it, all the work, confusion, mistakes, even tears sometimes are worth it in the end to see this idea come to life.

I am happy with how my DPS Year is going as I am already getting used to working in an office during office hours and I think that will make my life after graduation that much easier.