25 & Trying

28 And Trying – Guest Blog Post by Brunno Chan

B and B. We Run Half Marathons.

My name is Celso Brunno Yok Chan, born and raised in Mozambique (I Love to say this, that i was born in Mozambique).  Yesterday I was watching my wife as she watched a webinar from Brazen Careerist and I was inspired to write. I always wanted to be a good writer but I know I’m not. Because of the fact that I have a lot of ideas in my head and like my wife says I don’t go back and review what I wrote.  But like the blog title, I am 28 and trying. Trying to be a good writer and to figure out what a career in the 21^st century is and more importantly what is MY career.

One of the ladies last night at the Webinar was constantly saying, “one has to write about something that makes one scared” so I wanted to write about my experience of for the first time being put in the black or African American category, when I had to fill out an application. Maybe another day.

I never worked until I was in my twenties. In Mozambique if you are from the middle class people do not start working until mid-20’s. Or if you do it is because you are helping your family’s business.  So my first paid job was in the USA, at the animal center at the University of St. Johns in New York. I was the guy who cleaned the cages of the lab rats (they stink), the turtles (they poop a lot), the rabbits (very cute but deadly urine) and the one snake.

From there I went on some interviews and I worked for Cut Cook, trying to sell knives for 2 weeks. I just ended up paying a part of the price of the knives and kept them. I did one day at an insurance company. Then I gave up for a while, all my colleagues where looking for internships and in my mind I was just trying to finish my finance degree and go back to my country.

After I graduated, I moved to Oklahoma, my best friend lived in Stillwater, so I went there for summer vacation and stayed, living the country life. There I worked in Creative Labs. I was a customer service representative responsible for the Brazilian department. I never understood why people bought stuff that they could not afford and before they ended up paying the credit card the product was already broken.

I don’t remember what I was making but I do remember that it was a lot for Stillwater. I had my own apt, $400 and I used to buy food at Wal-Mart (first time I saw a Wal-Mart).

I moved back to Mozambique thinking that I was done with USA and I for the first time and at age 24 did my first internship. I interned at an accounting firm, learned the trick of the numbers and at Futur, a marketing organization for the Ministry of Tourism in Mozambique. Great times and I did not learn anything new.

My father convinced me that I needed to finish my school; by school he was talking about a masters. Because we all need a masters. How many masters are in the world that do not know anything or do not have any real world experience? I wanted to have the real world experience.

So I went back to NYC, “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” So my first job after coming back from Mozambique was flipping crepes at a street fair in NYC. Don’t remember the name of the place. I had to wake up early and stand the whole day talking and selling my crepes. Some nights I was the coat check at a Caribbean club in New Rochelle, thanks to my friend Ebonny. At least I got to go for free and I knew all the latest dance hall moves.

My next job was as a barista.  You know those jobs that you have to do everything, at a coffee place in the meatpacking district of the city, Constantino. It was great experience being the meatpacking, two days a week. However the manager was losing money and I think she wanted to start a family, so the place closed.

On to 67 Wine and Spirits cashier, bottle discounts and learned about Vodka. The place was nice, I just wish that they allowed us to keep some tips. I would have being the king of tips. Since I was on the school path my next job was kind of easier, but not really. I was a bar-back at Dos Caminos Third Avenue. Wow I do not miss having to carry all those alcohol boxes but I miss the tequila and working with my friend Leo. It was hard but was fun and I had some opportunities to bartend. I cannot forget the free food. If you are the person who controls the alcohol in a restaurant and are not eating all the specials of the house, you are not playing the right cards.

So for now this was the end of my random jobs. Next I became an intern at the Mozambique Mission for the United Nations and had the chance to wear my suits and blazers and learn how slow and redundant the UN is. But everybody said, it would be good for your resume! And yes, I got hired for a year, got to meet some interesting people and learn that working for people from some governments can be a pain in the ass. Especially when you have more experience than they have.  I got laid off for lack of funds.

My wife and I moved to Washington and I have been working as an intern at Search for Common Ground, learning how to deal with conflict, especially our internal conflicts. At the same time I also am interning at an environmental organization responsible for coordinating a large event in Mozambique.

This is my journey. I still do not know what my career is or if I have a career. But I know that I made it in NYC (not that I became a millionaire but I survived).

This is the part that I always have problems, conclusion, I do not definitely know how to write a good conclusion. Maybe I should write the Why, I wrote this post. The reason is that I want to write about my career and what better way start by doing a retrospective. If you would ask me today what is your career, I might have some difficulties responding. What I know is that I am in the career of learning what is my career.