Season 1; Episode 6: Embrace the Cringe
Meet Sara and Camila, professional caregivers, bunny moms, wonderful friends, and my two favourite weirdos. In this episode, Sara, Camila, and I talk about how caring is a gendered profession fuelled by the patriarchy, what it’s like navigating parental expectations when you’re 1st and 2nd gen, how much it costs to raise a child, teaching teenagers sex ed and other nursing nightmares, and strategies to cope with your ADHD in the workplace.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and RadioPublic
I’m so excited to publish this very special episode of What Am I Doing With My Life? Sara and Camila are two of my oldest friends, and I’m so lucky to have grown up with these two wondrous souls. In this podcast episode, we talk about:Sara’s education and career journey → a Bachelor of Biology from UBC, followed by a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. At first, she wanted to pursue a career in animal medicine but instead switched to looking after humans insteadCamila’s education and career journey → a Bachelor of Psychology with a minor in Sociology from SFU, and then starting a career in the non-profit sector, starting with a job in immigrant services.The different career paths you can go down as a nurse (it’s not all bedside!)How the burden of taking care of others is usually placed on women; care is often a gendered profession fuelled by the patriarchy.What it was like growing up as first and second-generation Canadians and managing their parents' expectations for their careers; Sara’s parents moved to Canada from Japan, and Camila immigrated from Colombia with her parents and brother when she was four years old.Whether or not it’s worth it to get a Masters degree.Shifting careers and lifestyles that women face as we choose whether or not to have children. How much it costs to raise a child and whether or not we want kids.Their first jobs as dog walkers, babysitters, Costco clerks, volunteers for OWL and crossing guards.Trauma bonding with other nurses in the breakroom and why talking shit at work is essential to maintain your sanity.Teaching teenagers sex ed, being threatened, being around dead bodies, and other day-in-the-life tasks of a nurse.The most heartfelt moments they experienced at their jobs and the clients/patients that made all their hard work worth the effort.How caring for others is a form of caring for yourself; you’re doing to others what you wish someone would/would’ve done for you.How to manage ADHD in the workplace; to-do lists and to-done lists, explicitly telling people you have no memory, following up every meeting with a recap email, utilizing “mom” plannersOvercoming social anxiety in a front-line position; getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.The lack of proper therapy and mental health care that nurses face.Strategies for coping with stress and how they each fill up their cups so that they can keep pouring out compassion onto others.Have the perseverance to open doors yourself rather than wait for them to open.
I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I loved recording it! Thank you Sara and Camila for getting in front of the microphone and being so honest with your experiences! Now let’s take a little trip down memory lane …
1997
1997
2008
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2009
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2010
Graduation, 2011
2011
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2015
2020
2021
2022