While 2020 did its thing for me, like it did for everyone else, 2021 started off on a routine note. I wanted to take the momentum of December 2020 into the whole of 2021.
2021 didn’t feel any different though. It didn’t feel special. Yes, I was very much aware that I’d be a parent mid-way through the year. Yes, that meant that life would fundamentally change. But I kept doing what I was doing. I kept hoping for something to click as a result of my job applications. But I wasn’t too conscious about it. I was focused on Tanvi’s PhD, how best I could support her by being present right here in Edmonton, and of course slowly and steadily building my editorial business.
I wasn’t even too worried about the pregnancy and how we would manage after the birth of our child. I am immensely fortunate in having a few extremely supportive and emotionally mature and available friends, one of whom was already a parent. These friendships played a major role in keeping me sane throughout the pregnancy.
As I was settling into a routine, I received a call from a manager at TANK, an ad agency based in Montreal and Toronto. They wanted to talk to me about the proofreading role I had applied for. I honestly had no recollection of applying. I may have applied for it months earlier, but the Canadian job market is notoriously slow, so it made sense that I didn’t remember at all. I went through a couple of rounds of interview. I didn’t make much of it. I didn’t want to be hopeful because I didn’t want to be disappointed.
But soon they got back to me with an offer! The best part was that it was fully remote, which meant that I wouldn't need to disrupt any aspect of my life in Edmonton. And just like that, I now had a full-time job AND a tiny editorial services business.
Working life at TANK felt different somehow. TANK has this constant buzz that’s typical of big-city employers, and that was very evident in my first few weeks. It was remarkable how a company in a city like Montreal or Toronto is different from ones in smaller towns and other provinces, at least in my experience. I felt more comfortable in a place like TANK. I suppose I was more used to working in such a culture, having grown up and worked in big cities myself.
What I liked about the job was that it was entirely different from what I had been doing until then. I had never worked with an ad agency before. Proofreading in that context was very targeted, but it also encompassed much more than one would expect. It was strictly proofreading, but because this was the ad agency world, it was not just proofreading. It meant so much more than just the usual mechanics.
I had to adapt to this sort of work. On most days, I would have a small documents (small compared to what I encounter in academic editing), and making sure I give sufficient time and attention to such small projects was a skill I had to pick up quickly.
Besides, so many of my colleagues were in Montreal, and so many of them were francophone. This was something that particularly delighted me - the chance to work with people who don’t share a language with me.
The first half of 2021 gave me a pleasant surprise. I feel fortunate in meeting such colleagues and such an employer. I picked up a lot more skills and traits than I’d hoped for. My editing business, although sidelined to an extent, was still bringing me joy. And there was everything to love about my new job with TANK.
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