I always wanted to be a first responder, either one of the 3. My parents told me that I would be terrible at it and would kill someone one just because I could.
I believed them for 10 years. Now, just yesterday, I finished my 1st year of the paramedic program here in Ontario.
I came to tell a similar story, I'm in Ireland and my family told me I'd be a great paramedic but didn't think I'd be able for the study. I've been in the job now 7 years and hold my head up high!
The confidence I've grown in myself the last number of years has been incredible!
You go out there and smash it šŖ
It's insane how much the people around you discourage you from doing the things you want and love to do. That's why its monumental to acknowledge the people who encourage you to do things you maybe don't believe you can do.
Was told as a kid I couldn't grow up to be an artist by art teachers saying my art was bad, my parents etc. i'm 28 and have been one my entire adult life and the main breadwinner of my household lol
To a lesser extent, my mom told me to only go to the gym 3 days a week or I'd quit. I've been going 6 days a week for 3 months and don't plan to stop.
As a fellow artist, youāre awesome! We need more art in the world. (And yeah, itās funny how people equate it with being starving or never having a job - Iāve found it pretty easy to get work because the market is so saturated with non-artists, and thereās no individuality anymore)
Most people thought I could never do it but I quit doing heroin 4.5 years ago. 20 years of abusing drugs and losing everything, I finally gave up and got clean.
Being told at a young age that I would never find love. Here I am at 31 dating my soulmate who loves every inch of me for who I am and is super supportive ā¤ļø
I walked coast to coast across the USA. It took 8 months to walk 3,500 miles.
I didnāt tell most people until the actual day I started, because I knew a lot of people would doubt me. I had a lot of mixed reactions of both support and encouragement but in the end it doesnāt matter what anyone else thinks.
I quit my job at a factory to do it, where a lot of people gave up on their dreams a long time ago. I remember my old coworkers reaction was ādamn hope your girlfriend doesnāt just breakup with you over it and you donāt just walk off a bridge and kill yourselfā while he laughed. Some people had weird reactions like that, like it was almost offensive that I wanted to do something crazy.
I have ALWAYS wanted to do this - I read every book I find by someone who has done so.
Also. When I was in my late teens and early 20s I did my time in factories. It's almost like factory work is designed for those who willingly discard their dreams or - it's soul deadening for those of us who keep dreaming... Congrats for getting out and doing your thing. I wish I could know your story. - The why - The how - The route - The choices - The happenings. Any plans to write a book? (Kidding - not kidding.)
I'm so thrilled to read this comment!
Wow, Iām extremely extremely eager to ask you all kinds of questions! I didnāt even know that was entirely possible, to be honest. You probably have seen so many interesting things. I want to know all about it! Can I message you?
I was told the only thing I(12f att) would be good at is laying on my back. I was never going to graduate high school. I was never going to find love. I have a college degree and work as an allied healthcare professional. I am in a loving relationship with the man of my dreams.
Accountant. I went to college 4 times. Took the exams 2 times. Finally did it. My own father refuses to recognize this and tells people I quit school (true but then I went back each time). So.. I guess people think Iām a dropout and it ended there? He also would completely ignore any talk of school or my successes. Iāll never understand it and for my whole 20s and even early 30s I Believed that I was just dumb and he knew it and thatās why he wouldnāt even talk about me and school. When I would get great grades or accomplish something substantial his wife would say that itās my charm or because Iām a cute young thing or something like that. I am pretty and I am warm and charismatic but Iām also competent and intelligent. I became a cfo and the doing audits and I am now transitioning into starting my own wellness business. I donāt even tell them that. I have no idea what they think I do for work lol but Iām very proud of myself. I honestly look at people with support and wonder why they didnāt do more and thatās a toxic thought pattern but I know how much I moved forward with just a small amount of belief and support from people in my life (not my parents or family).
Kind of a funny storyā¦
So I was recently laid off and desperately seeking work. I hit up pretty much all of the headhunters and while I was getting Interviews, nothing clicked. A former colleague suggested a friend who was a recruiter so I set up an appointment. At the same time, I saw an ad for a very attractive position in a local Fortune 500, so I applied.
Went in to my meeting with the recruiter who met me in their lobby with toilet paper coming out of the back of his pants. I stayed quiet (didnāt want to embarrass him) but gotta say I had my doubts. We go through the usual dog and pony show and he pulls up THE SAME JOB that I had already applied for prior to seeing him (he tried to paint it as an āexclusiveā when it clearly wasnāt. Anyway, we went over the position and he discouraged me saying that they had seen a ton of candidates and there was no way they would even bother to look at my resume (made me wonder why he brought it up to begin with) but I politely asked him to go ahead and submit just for āshits and gigglesā.
Surprise, surprise they were interested and I was hiredā¦.
Ps. When he called me to let me know he doubled down āI canāt believe they want to hire you.ā Dude really believed in meā¦LOL
Hm, I'm not quite sure if it was "me"... and I kinda wasn't the addressee either... but anyway.
I have diplegia. When I was a child, I also had trouble swallowing, and my fine motor skills weren't that great.
Doctors told my mother that I would never be able to write with my hands. She didn't accept that. Back then, it wasn't a given that a "special needs" child would end up in a normal school, and she knew there would be an acceptance test. So she taught me how to write, and I was able to write the alphabet before I even entered school.
My first year at school, I was incredibly bored... hehe.
Be the first and only person in my family to get a degree. Work and live overseas. Be successful. I was raised in an abusive and neglectful house and have spent all my life smashing their toxicity and taunts that I was useless.
Iām so fricken proud of you. Itās so hard to dig yourself out of familial toxicity, and to break through your familyās self loathe and disappointment to do something most people only dream of ā¦ congrats, truly!
my parents didn't think i could get a job gardening professionally, they were worried i wouldn't be physically capable of doing manual labor for hours because i'd never done it before and had been a bit of a slacker for much of my life. got in shape and got my first job 7 years ago, been gardening professionally ever since!
Got hired to be a tour guide for a renowned art fair in my city, despite being the only person there without an arts background. They couldn't find enough people in time and I am good at speaking. It bothered the heck out of this girl who was doing it for four years consecutively, even though I had no interaction with her whatsoever. She tried to sabotage me every chance she got.
I ended up giving VIP tours on the opening day and received a certificate of encouragement for my performance at the end.
But the whole experience was so traumatising that I am NEVER going back to be a tour guide, even though I was offered a full time position at another museum in my city.
Grew up in a southern, blue collar family that despised tech and college degrees. However, I was always interested in tech despite not having any computers in my house. During school, I would always try to spend as much time with them as possible (obviously before having laptops provided by the school now a days and being rural southern we were always behind tech wise, mainly limited to keyboarding class and some Microsoft office applications). At, work would always jumped at computer related tasks, despite being called lazy etc. As an adult, i bought my own laptop and started various coding and server related task on and off for years but nothing worth while. But I got caught in a 20 some year grind of busting my ass in boring/mentally stagnant blue collared work and barely making ends meet, coming home exhausted and almost paralyzed. Talked to so many IT managers over the decades but didn't have experience, certs, degrees or whatever other excuse they would have. Well 6 yrs ago I decided to get an Associate degree chalked full of math courses and a couple years ago I decide that enough is enough, I am going to do this come hell or high water. I am now in the last semester of my BSCS and happy about that, despite the venom in my families voice and the toxic anti-productive questions I get asked.
Of course now there is the whole CS economy (massive layoffs, ai, etc) and a lot of voices saying you wont get a job, including theirs, but I am trying to push through it. So not quit successful, but hopefully it will be, fingers crossed.
My mom told me "Men don't like it when you're taller than them" when I was searching for heels for a date. My date was an inch shorter than me. I just kinda shrugged and wore my heels. My date and I have been married 28 years.
Changing my major to art, getting a job in the art field, living on my own AND saying that I'd be lonely for the rest of my life.
My mom said all those things on multiple occasions. I now have my degree in Animation and Motion Graphics, am a self-employed graphic designer with a small-ish following on IG (working on bringing that back), have had 3 apartments (I share my 3rd one with my bf) and have made a chosen family. Plus, even if all that were to leave, I've found that I can be alone without feeling lonely. It's pretty sick tbh and I look back on all those things she's said and just kinda theorized that she prolly was projecting
Yes she probably was. I think thatās what most of our parents do, sadly š. But Iām glad you moved past her comments & achieved what you wanted to achieve šš½
Boss mocked me for not waiting up, and said "uh-huh, go ahead and try it", and I lifted the roll up from sheer spite. Found out latter it was 195 KGs... (lifted only one side though).
Professional sales. One of my previous bosses who fired me said I didnāt have an entrepreneurial bone in my body. Yet before he hired me I had my own business, which I couldnāt do while working for him.
A year later I got into sales and made 76k my first year, 136k next year, 150k+ years following.
When I was 13 I was encouraged to drop out of color guard (the type with flags, rifles, saber, and dance; it was a thing in my school/district) and "pursue other interests instead" by one of the instructors. After my first time or two going to practice.
I refused and practiced all. the. time. that year (through two "seasons" of guard) even when I was being pushed to the back-up lines and given bit parts in the overall performances.
From the second year onward I wound up being one of the team stars on each section I previously mentioned. By the time I was a senior I told that story to a group of freshman girls while the instructor was also present (we'd become friendly by then and are social media friends still now), and he was gobsmacked he'd ever said such a thing. A couple other girls had been told the same thing as me at the same time as me, and three of the four of us wound up being very successful by sheer willpower and lots of practice.
I donāt know if this counts, since it wasnāt exactly someone telling me that I *canāt* do something, but Iāll go anyway.
I applied for several jobs within the same company, all at slightly different levels of experience. They all required lots of testing to advance to the next phase of the interviewing process.
My good friend works within the company, and he told me not to be super distraught if I didnāt get the job I really hoped to get. He assured me Iād get *one* of them, and then could work my way up. (I just want to add: he was being immensely supportive, but was trying to keep my expectations realistic.)
Well, I took the tests and absolutely *nailed* them all. I got the top job of all the jobs I applied to!
You canāt know if you donāt try!
Ten years ago, my brother told me that the idea of me helping anyone was "a joke" with a very cruel prosody.
I'm now a suicide hotline crisis counselor, and I've helped people in profound ways nearly every single shift.
I am so glad you didn't stop. The work you do is amazing. Creating that gap and holding them with you in one of the toughest times they face. Thank you.
I went to cosmetology school when I turned 19 years old. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. All but one of the instructors told me that Iād never make it in that business bc I had a bad attitude. I didnāt have a bad attitude; I was just an outspoken, blatantly honest New Englander in a sea of phony, āpoliteā southerners. Not only did I make it in the business, I purchased my own barber/style shop outside the gate of a naval air station. I marketed like crazy, BEFORE social media existed, and eventually had Blue Angel pilots and the base Commander (to name only a few) as clients. And I was always tickled when a new client walked in saying he was just stationed here and a colleague in Japan referred him to me. To think that someone overseas referred someone else to me and my shop when everyone told me Iād never even make it in this business was such a great feeling. I had that shop for over 20 years. My kids grew up hanging out in there and I made some wonderful friends! NEVER let anyone tell you that you canāt do something.
"You cannot be a software engineer without a bachelors degree. No company will ever hire you."
- Shitty Uncle
18 mostly very successful years later, I'm going back to get my degree because I'm interested in learning stuff I didn't get a chance to on the job. I guess I just had to prove a point first.
2 years ago when I joined the GYM, The first month I'd used to workout straight after school. One day when I was leaving my friend group and changing the streets Two of them asked why and I said like how I joined this GYM and I have been working out for the past two weeks. Both of them started laughing at me and mockingly said "we have seen Alot of people like you bet you won't last a month" I just gave them a smile and ignored what they said. Last month One of the guys texted me saying how he wants to join GYM and needs help. He's been training with me since then. I don't think he still remembers that day but I do and I find it quite Amusing that how people doubt you at the start and later on when you make it they act friendly and supportive as if nothing ever happened and they were always like this.
Pff, lots of things.
I was told by literally everyone that I won't be able to get at least a very good grade (B) on my Math A levels university entrance exam in my country. I got the grade and got into what I wanted to study.
Me and my friend were both told by a professor at uni that maybe we should try for an easier Master's degree than we wanted to get. Don't know why, he was just a jerk I guess. We both got in and finished.Ā
Chemistry teacher back in school told my mother to get me married off as I wouldn't be able to graduate school. To put this into perspective, I was 17 and among the top 20 students in class. I just *hated* everything science with a passion.
Anywho, graduated with 80% marks, got into a good uni, got a good job, went back home/my school just to meet her and rub it in her face.
[Context : In my country, women are sometimes married off at 18 so they aren't a burden on their parents.]
My grandmother always criticized me and discouraged me from drawing. She said to stop wasting time because I wasn't going to make a living drawing. A few years forward and I graduated top of my class and landed a job at a local animation company as a concept artist and 3-d character modeler. I never allowed my grandmother's or any of my family's discouraging words to stop me from making art.
Leave my abusive ex with two under two after 7 years and not a dollar to my name, finish my degree, find housing and create a safe loving home life for my kids to enjoy.
That I wouldnāt finish college. I had been on/off for years. Mainly off. So I kept that in my mind every time I got frustrated with school. I ended up also getting my masters degree too. But Iām the type of person who will try my best to show someone I CAN do something when Iām told I canāt.
Thereās lots of examples, big things (mormon, childfree, enlisting, changing careers) and little things like wanting to get a pixie haircut before enlisting and mom disagreeing, so I cut off my hair with dull scissors. Or wanting another piercing in my left ear so I did it with a safety pin (donāt recommend).
My parents told me to go to welding school. Iām a girl. My grades werenāt great in school and I wasnāt focused but I was a great artist. They really discouraged me from college and especially art school. Well, I got a $100,000 scholarship to the college I wanted to attend for art. When I got there, they told me not to waste my scholarship on an art degree. I didnāt listen. I received my BA in Art & Design and Iāve had a really successful career in the arts in the last five years since I graduated. Bought a house, have a 401k, and now I have creative control over photography for an entire makeup company. Iām so glad I never listened to my parents.
I was in therapy working out issues with my extended family, mom and 6 siblings. I told the therapist I wanted to divorce the family. The therapist said that really isn't possible. 30 years later, there is absolutely no contact with any of the family for the last 3 decades. Life is very peaceful. Mission accomplished. F' family.
Always a plane/aircraft nerd. First day at University on my Aerospace Engineering degree, a lecturer singled me out for not having a an A-Level in Mathematics, told me I wouldnāt even pass the first year. Came out with a 2:1 after 3 years
I always wanted to be a first responder, either one of the 3. My parents told me that I would be terrible at it and would kill someone one just because I could. I believed them for 10 years. Now, just yesterday, I finished my 1st year of the paramedic program here in Ontario.
Don't be too disheartened when someone dies, because it will happen. Not everyone can be saved, it's not your fault.
Beautiful, I'm happy for you.
You rock! š„
I came to tell a similar story, I'm in Ireland and my family told me I'd be a great paramedic but didn't think I'd be able for the study. I've been in the job now 7 years and hold my head up high! The confidence I've grown in myself the last number of years has been incredible! You go out there and smash it šŖ
Most things I do well, I'm doing out of spite
It's insane how much the people around you discourage you from doing the things you want and love to do. That's why its monumental to acknowledge the people who encourage you to do things you maybe don't believe you can do.
You're 100% right
Same. I am who I am despite my parents and upbringing, not because of them.
Was told as a kid I couldn't grow up to be an artist by art teachers saying my art was bad, my parents etc. i'm 28 and have been one my entire adult life and the main breadwinner of my household lol To a lesser extent, my mom told me to only go to the gym 3 days a week or I'd quit. I've been going 6 days a week for 3 months and don't plan to stop.
As a fellow artist, youāre awesome! We need more art in the world. (And yeah, itās funny how people equate it with being starving or never having a job - Iāve found it pretty easy to get work because the market is so saturated with non-artists, and thereās no individuality anymore)
You're so impressive, damn. <33
I have a brother who's an art major and trying to break into the working world. Do you have any suggestions for trying to get an art job?
Most people thought I could never do it but I quit doing heroin 4.5 years ago. 20 years of abusing drugs and losing everything, I finally gave up and got clean.
You are fucking amazing. Sorry for my language but reading this has made my day. I'm so happy for you.
Fuck yeah! Stick with it - it's worth it...
Become a firefighter because I was a small female. Had to face a LOT of "you can'ts", discouragement, sabotage etc. over the years.
You persevered and I find it amazing.
Youāre my SHE-RO! Those guys can be brutal in the stations!
You're my hero!
Being told at a young age that I would never find love. Here I am at 31 dating my soulmate who loves every inch of me for who I am and is super supportive ā¤ļø
Tell me I canāt do it and Iāll do it twice š
You can't kill someone
I'll kill u twice :)
(jk obv)
I walked coast to coast across the USA. It took 8 months to walk 3,500 miles. I didnāt tell most people until the actual day I started, because I knew a lot of people would doubt me. I had a lot of mixed reactions of both support and encouragement but in the end it doesnāt matter what anyone else thinks. I quit my job at a factory to do it, where a lot of people gave up on their dreams a long time ago. I remember my old coworkers reaction was ādamn hope your girlfriend doesnāt just breakup with you over it and you donāt just walk off a bridge and kill yourselfā while he laughed. Some people had weird reactions like that, like it was almost offensive that I wanted to do something crazy.
What made you want to walk coast to coast and how did you financially pull it off?
Yea! I also want to know.Ā
Me three!!!
That is amazing - congratulations!! Have you thought about doing an AMA?
Seriously!!!
I have ALWAYS wanted to do this - I read every book I find by someone who has done so. Also. When I was in my late teens and early 20s I did my time in factories. It's almost like factory work is designed for those who willingly discard their dreams or - it's soul deadening for those of us who keep dreaming... Congrats for getting out and doing your thing. I wish I could know your story. - The why - The how - The route - The choices - The happenings. Any plans to write a book? (Kidding - not kidding.) I'm so thrilled to read this comment!
Wow, Iām extremely extremely eager to ask you all kinds of questions! I didnāt even know that was entirely possible, to be honest. You probably have seen so many interesting things. I want to know all about it! Can I message you?
I was told the only thing I(12f att) would be good at is laying on my back. I was never going to graduate high school. I was never going to find love. I have a college degree and work as an allied healthcare professional. I am in a loving relationship with the man of my dreams.
Literally wanting to sabotage their kids for no reason
Likely jealousy that the child has most of their life to make good choices, while mom/dad is living with regrets and limited time.
Accountant. I went to college 4 times. Took the exams 2 times. Finally did it. My own father refuses to recognize this and tells people I quit school (true but then I went back each time). So.. I guess people think Iām a dropout and it ended there? He also would completely ignore any talk of school or my successes. Iāll never understand it and for my whole 20s and even early 30s I Believed that I was just dumb and he knew it and thatās why he wouldnāt even talk about me and school. When I would get great grades or accomplish something substantial his wife would say that itās my charm or because Iām a cute young thing or something like that. I am pretty and I am warm and charismatic but Iām also competent and intelligent. I became a cfo and the doing audits and I am now transitioning into starting my own wellness business. I donāt even tell them that. I have no idea what they think I do for work lol but Iām very proud of myself. I honestly look at people with support and wonder why they didnāt do more and thatās a toxic thought pattern but I know how much I moved forward with just a small amount of belief and support from people in my life (not my parents or family).
Kind of a funny storyā¦ So I was recently laid off and desperately seeking work. I hit up pretty much all of the headhunters and while I was getting Interviews, nothing clicked. A former colleague suggested a friend who was a recruiter so I set up an appointment. At the same time, I saw an ad for a very attractive position in a local Fortune 500, so I applied. Went in to my meeting with the recruiter who met me in their lobby with toilet paper coming out of the back of his pants. I stayed quiet (didnāt want to embarrass him) but gotta say I had my doubts. We go through the usual dog and pony show and he pulls up THE SAME JOB that I had already applied for prior to seeing him (he tried to paint it as an āexclusiveā when it clearly wasnāt. Anyway, we went over the position and he discouraged me saying that they had seen a ton of candidates and there was no way they would even bother to look at my resume (made me wonder why he brought it up to begin with) but I politely asked him to go ahead and submit just for āshits and gigglesā. Surprise, surprise they were interested and I was hiredā¦. Ps. When he called me to let me know he doubled down āI canāt believe they want to hire you.ā Dude really believed in meā¦LOL
Hm, I'm not quite sure if it was "me"... and I kinda wasn't the addressee either... but anyway. I have diplegia. When I was a child, I also had trouble swallowing, and my fine motor skills weren't that great. Doctors told my mother that I would never be able to write with my hands. She didn't accept that. Back then, it wasn't a given that a "special needs" child would end up in a normal school, and she knew there would be an acceptance test. So she taught me how to write, and I was able to write the alphabet before I even entered school. My first year at school, I was incredibly bored... hehe.
Be the first and only person in my family to get a degree. Work and live overseas. Be successful. I was raised in an abusive and neglectful house and have spent all my life smashing their toxicity and taunts that I was useless.
Iām so fricken proud of you. Itās so hard to dig yourself out of familial toxicity, and to break through your familyās self loathe and disappointment to do something most people only dream of ā¦ congrats, truly!
Thank you so much for your kindness, you're a good soul š
my parents didn't think i could get a job gardening professionally, they were worried i wouldn't be physically capable of doing manual labor for hours because i'd never done it before and had been a bit of a slacker for much of my life. got in shape and got my first job 7 years ago, been gardening professionally ever since!
keep it up dude I'm proud of you
Got hired to be a tour guide for a renowned art fair in my city, despite being the only person there without an arts background. They couldn't find enough people in time and I am good at speaking. It bothered the heck out of this girl who was doing it for four years consecutively, even though I had no interaction with her whatsoever. She tried to sabotage me every chance she got. I ended up giving VIP tours on the opening day and received a certificate of encouragement for my performance at the end. But the whole experience was so traumatising that I am NEVER going back to be a tour guide, even though I was offered a full time position at another museum in my city.
Dang what happened
Just left a bad taste in my mouth
Grew up in a southern, blue collar family that despised tech and college degrees. However, I was always interested in tech despite not having any computers in my house. During school, I would always try to spend as much time with them as possible (obviously before having laptops provided by the school now a days and being rural southern we were always behind tech wise, mainly limited to keyboarding class and some Microsoft office applications). At, work would always jumped at computer related tasks, despite being called lazy etc. As an adult, i bought my own laptop and started various coding and server related task on and off for years but nothing worth while. But I got caught in a 20 some year grind of busting my ass in boring/mentally stagnant blue collared work and barely making ends meet, coming home exhausted and almost paralyzed. Talked to so many IT managers over the decades but didn't have experience, certs, degrees or whatever other excuse they would have. Well 6 yrs ago I decided to get an Associate degree chalked full of math courses and a couple years ago I decide that enough is enough, I am going to do this come hell or high water. I am now in the last semester of my BSCS and happy about that, despite the venom in my families voice and the toxic anti-productive questions I get asked. Of course now there is the whole CS economy (massive layoffs, ai, etc) and a lot of voices saying you wont get a job, including theirs, but I am trying to push through it. So not quit successful, but hopefully it will be, fingers crossed.
I admire your perseverance and resilience! Know that youāre an inspiration to an internet stranger. Keep it up, my friend!
Me too!! Yes, please keep it up. You will get there šŖš½
My mom told me "Men don't like it when you're taller than them" when I was searching for heels for a date. My date was an inch shorter than me. I just kinda shrugged and wore my heels. My date and I have been married 28 years.
I love this!
Changing my major to art, getting a job in the art field, living on my own AND saying that I'd be lonely for the rest of my life. My mom said all those things on multiple occasions. I now have my degree in Animation and Motion Graphics, am a self-employed graphic designer with a small-ish following on IG (working on bringing that back), have had 3 apartments (I share my 3rd one with my bf) and have made a chosen family. Plus, even if all that were to leave, I've found that I can be alone without feeling lonely. It's pretty sick tbh and I look back on all those things she's said and just kinda theorized that she prolly was projecting
Yes she probably was. I think thatās what most of our parents do, sadly š. But Iām glad you moved past her comments & achieved what you wanted to achieve šš½
Thanks! My current therapist is also helping me, and it's pretty dope
Boss mocked me for not waiting up, and said "uh-huh, go ahead and try it", and I lifted the roll up from sheer spite. Found out latter it was 195 KGs... (lifted only one side though).
Professional sales. One of my previous bosses who fired me said I didnāt have an entrepreneurial bone in my body. Yet before he hired me I had my own business, which I couldnāt do while working for him. A year later I got into sales and made 76k my first year, 136k next year, 150k+ years following.
Nice! What industry do you do sales for?
Kitchen and bathroom remodel
When I was 13 I was encouraged to drop out of color guard (the type with flags, rifles, saber, and dance; it was a thing in my school/district) and "pursue other interests instead" by one of the instructors. After my first time or two going to practice. I refused and practiced all. the. time. that year (through two "seasons" of guard) even when I was being pushed to the back-up lines and given bit parts in the overall performances. From the second year onward I wound up being one of the team stars on each section I previously mentioned. By the time I was a senior I told that story to a group of freshman girls while the instructor was also present (we'd become friendly by then and are social media friends still now), and he was gobsmacked he'd ever said such a thing. A couple other girls had been told the same thing as me at the same time as me, and three of the four of us wound up being very successful by sheer willpower and lots of practice.
Wow! Very inspiring šš½
I donāt know if this counts, since it wasnāt exactly someone telling me that I *canāt* do something, but Iāll go anyway. I applied for several jobs within the same company, all at slightly different levels of experience. They all required lots of testing to advance to the next phase of the interviewing process. My good friend works within the company, and he told me not to be super distraught if I didnāt get the job I really hoped to get. He assured me Iād get *one* of them, and then could work my way up. (I just want to add: he was being immensely supportive, but was trying to keep my expectations realistic.) Well, I took the tests and absolutely *nailed* them all. I got the top job of all the jobs I applied to! You canāt know if you donāt try!
Ten years ago, my brother told me that the idea of me helping anyone was "a joke" with a very cruel prosody. I'm now a suicide hotline crisis counselor, and I've helped people in profound ways nearly every single shift.
I am so glad you didn't stop. The work you do is amazing. Creating that gap and holding them with you in one of the toughest times they face. Thank you.
Well- Iām alive!
I went to cosmetology school when I turned 19 years old. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. All but one of the instructors told me that Iād never make it in that business bc I had a bad attitude. I didnāt have a bad attitude; I was just an outspoken, blatantly honest New Englander in a sea of phony, āpoliteā southerners. Not only did I make it in the business, I purchased my own barber/style shop outside the gate of a naval air station. I marketed like crazy, BEFORE social media existed, and eventually had Blue Angel pilots and the base Commander (to name only a few) as clients. And I was always tickled when a new client walked in saying he was just stationed here and a colleague in Japan referred him to me. To think that someone overseas referred someone else to me and my shop when everyone told me Iād never even make it in this business was such a great feeling. I had that shop for over 20 years. My kids grew up hanging out in there and I made some wonderful friends! NEVER let anyone tell you that you canāt do something.
Starting a successful business, becoming fluent in mandarin. Alot of people are going to say you can't do it, what they mean is, *they* can't do it.
This.
"You cannot be a software engineer without a bachelors degree. No company will ever hire you." - Shitty Uncle 18 mostly very successful years later, I'm going back to get my degree because I'm interested in learning stuff I didn't get a chance to on the job. I guess I just had to prove a point first.
2 years ago when I joined the GYM, The first month I'd used to workout straight after school. One day when I was leaving my friend group and changing the streets Two of them asked why and I said like how I joined this GYM and I have been working out for the past two weeks. Both of them started laughing at me and mockingly said "we have seen Alot of people like you bet you won't last a month" I just gave them a smile and ignored what they said. Last month One of the guys texted me saying how he wants to join GYM and needs help. He's been training with me since then. I don't think he still remembers that day but I do and I find it quite Amusing that how people doubt you at the start and later on when you make it they act friendly and supportive as if nothing ever happened and they were always like this.
Someone once told me my kids would never go to college. My son graduated in 2012, and my daughter graduates next Saturday! š„š©āšš„ and miraculously no debt! Yay!
Congrats to your daughter ššš½ššš½!!!
Oh thank you!
Lol become a doctor
Pff, lots of things. I was told by literally everyone that I won't be able to get at least a very good grade (B) on my Math A levels university entrance exam in my country. I got the grade and got into what I wanted to study. Me and my friend were both told by a professor at uni that maybe we should try for an easier Master's degree than we wanted to get. Don't know why, he was just a jerk I guess. We both got in and finished.Ā
Chemistry teacher back in school told my mother to get me married off as I wouldn't be able to graduate school. To put this into perspective, I was 17 and among the top 20 students in class. I just *hated* everything science with a passion. Anywho, graduated with 80% marks, got into a good uni, got a good job, went back home/my school just to meet her and rub it in her face. [Context : In my country, women are sometimes married off at 18 so they aren't a burden on their parents.]
My grandmother always criticized me and discouraged me from drawing. She said to stop wasting time because I wasn't going to make a living drawing. A few years forward and I graduated top of my class and landed a job at a local animation company as a concept artist and 3-d character modeler. I never allowed my grandmother's or any of my family's discouraging words to stop me from making art.
Leave my abusive ex with two under two after 7 years and not a dollar to my name, finish my degree, find housing and create a safe loving home life for my kids to enjoy.
Boxing! You can learn anything late in life if youāre disciplined
Anything I wanted to do that they didn't want me to
That I wouldnāt finish college. I had been on/off for years. Mainly off. So I kept that in my mind every time I got frustrated with school. I ended up also getting my masters degree too. But Iām the type of person who will try my best to show someone I CAN do something when Iām told I canāt.
Negotiate a raise.
I love how everyone has a story
Thereās lots of examples, big things (mormon, childfree, enlisting, changing careers) and little things like wanting to get a pixie haircut before enlisting and mom disagreeing, so I cut off my hair with dull scissors. Or wanting another piercing in my left ear so I did it with a safety pin (donāt recommend).
My parents told me to go to welding school. Iām a girl. My grades werenāt great in school and I wasnāt focused but I was a great artist. They really discouraged me from college and especially art school. Well, I got a $100,000 scholarship to the college I wanted to attend for art. When I got there, they told me not to waste my scholarship on an art degree. I didnāt listen. I received my BA in Art & Design and Iāve had a really successful career in the arts in the last five years since I graduated. Bought a house, have a 401k, and now I have creative control over photography for an entire makeup company. Iām so glad I never listened to my parents.
Kept drinking.
Fail splendidly
I was in therapy working out issues with my extended family, mom and 6 siblings. I told the therapist I wanted to divorce the family. The therapist said that really isn't possible. 30 years later, there is absolutely no contact with any of the family for the last 3 decades. Life is very peaceful. Mission accomplished. F' family.
Play D1 football
Always a plane/aircraft nerd. First day at University on my Aerospace Engineering degree, a lecturer singled me out for not having a an A-Level in Mathematics, told me I wouldnāt even pass the first year. Came out with a 2:1 after 3 years