MY JOURNEY, SAJINPROGRESS, THIS IS MY STORY

The New Role

When I started my return to work journey last year, I had no clue where it would take me. First, I started with a placement for 8 weeks, and then the company I work for created a position for me to return to work full-time.

 

At the time of my placement, the office had flooded and everyone was working out of trailers. I got lucky and was set up in the project management trailer, which got me interested in project management. I remember my boss asked me about my career goals once my position was created. Since I was working with the project management team and was randomly assisting them with paper work, I realized I wanted to get into this field and that my next step was to become a project coordinator.

As luck would have it, a project coordinator resigned last year and I was given an opportunity to take on his workload in parallel to what I was already doing. My boss had a meeting with me to see how I felt and laid out a plan for me to learn the role and get comfortable. I had a review meeting with my boss and the project manager a month later   to see how I was progressing. I was determined to learn the job and perform as best as I could, and had gotten comfortable with the work in that one month.  At that meeting, I was offered a full-time role as a project coordinator. Prior to my stroke, I knew the railroad industry was where I wanted to be. I am grateful to be back. This is proof that hard work pays off and if you believe in yourself then anything is possible.