2017: The Year My Dreams Were Finally Realized

When I made the decision to leave law school to be a writer back in the fall of 2014, I had no idea if I was making the right move. I was forgoing one of the most lucrative careers in the world for perhaps one of the least lucrative. Many people probably thought I was crazy. Even one of the deans at the school was skeptical of my choice when I spoke to her about leaving. She put me down in the system as taking a leave of absence rather than leaving so that the door for me coming back within two semesters would still be there. Thankfully, that ended up being a completely unnecessary move.

Everything wasn’t rainbows and butterflies at first, though.

When I first got back to California, I was working as a manager at an Abercrombie Kids store. I eventually moved up to one of the biggest stores in the state at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, but this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I left law school.

I eventually switched things up and started working as a manager at my local Barnes & Noble, which felt like a good change of pace and certainly closer to my ultimate goal of writing than a clothing store was. Around that same time, I finally made a leap that quite literally changed my life.

I applied to be a remote writer for Rotowire and was brought on soon after I started at B&N. After almost a year and a half from leaving law school, I was finally getting paid to write. It may have been part-time, but it was something.

I started off just writing fantasy hockey notes before moving over to the esports division and hitting the ground running. First it was just League of Legends. Then it was Hearthstone. Counter-Strike. Call of Duty. Overwatch. Street Fighter. Basically everything.

I continued doing all this while working full-time at B&N and it was a hell of a time. You haven’t lived until you’ve stayed up until 6am watching Korean League of Legends and then starting your other job an hour later for a 7am-3pm shift multiple times a week. This was what I left law school for, though. So I kept on doing it in the hopes that I could parlay it into something more permanent in the near future.

I may have lost a ton of sleep over 2016 and most of 2017, but it ended up paying off immensely in the form of a full-time position with the company. I left B&N (at the perfect time, too, since my less-than-stellar store manager was trying to push me out the door). I got more sleep and now I’m happier than ever. I recently went to Dallas for a Call of Duty event and will be going to New Orleans in a couple weeks for another one. So this is what it’s like to love your job?

This year has simply been incredible. Not only have I finally found a job that I love, but I got to quite literally live out my dreams.

I left law school because I knew that being happy was more important than making a lot of money. Do I sometimes wish that I made more money? Hell yeah, who doesn’t wish that? But I’m happier than ever and that’s all that matters.

As this year comes to an end, it’s important that we take a step back and look at the wins. We’ve all had some pretty big Ls in 2017, with one of the biggest sitting in the oval office (I couldn’t help it!). But this year has had a ton of good in it, too. We can’t forget that.

I rediscovered gaming, got a cat, tapped into my African American heritage, and realized my dreams.

I can’t wait to see what 2018 brings.