Starting From Scratch

My name is Safra Marie Ducreay. I am 38 years old. I was born-and-raised in Toronto. I lived in the UK for six years. I lived in America for a year-and-a-half. I got married to my now-husband, an American, in June 2019. I have a son who is six months old. 

Journey to a new beginning. 

I knew I wanted to be a journalist at 17. I was creative and a good writer, but I didn't have the focus to be good at English academically. So, I took a nondirect path to journalism. I don't think there's anything particularly scarred or stained about my past, but it has been a lot of start-and-stops. I went to the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus from 2001 to 2003. I had a poor academic record. I took out student loans, and I left a stable part-time job in a call centre for the Royal Bank of Canada's Visa product to enter the world of bartending. For many years it had been a hodgepodge of this-and-that. It wasn't until I moved to London, UK (there is a London in Canada), in 2008, that my career had a bit more focus. After many years and countries, I finally took the leap. In December 2017, I moved to America, the land of my teenage dreams, before moving back to Toronto to start my journey into motherhood. 

For the past 100 years or so, I have always known my overall objective, which was to be a journalist, it just took on different iterations. And now, here I am, during a pandemic, with a fussy baby, back in Toronto and ready to start a completely new chapter. What I am about to embark on has been on my mind since early 2017. I came across a path that merged my passion for writing and technology back in 2018 but put that aside figuring that perhaps I didn't need it. I do, though. Having said that, what I am about to take on ensures me that no matter what happens, whether I choose to remain creative or move into the super-structured world of immigration law, this is something that will be useful. It's the way of the future. 

This is the one career-project where I'm committed to lifelong learning. I can see a very practical path to getting there and the schooling associated with it doesn't require thousands of dollars in tuition or hours in a lecture hall away from my little one. As long as I can manage my time, it doesn't infringe on anything I need to do. Instead, it is a steady and consistent path to a rewarding long-term endeavour. 

This is my journey to becoming a Technical Writer and/or UX Writer for Google.