“It was one of the hardest decisions”

[00:00:09] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to what's your story? [00:00:11] Speaker B: Threads of human experience, a podcast of. [00:00:14] Speaker A: Perspectives that weaves past, present and future. I'm your host, Elle Reid, and in this episode I will be sharing conversations into the effects of occupational burnout and how the determined decision to thread together separate passions can lead to a brighter future. What you're hearing is Australia. Not the kangaroos and the flying boomerangs, but home. Fire pit crackles gentle music and soft laughing this is my guest's home. [00:00:52] Speaker C: I feel like Australians in saying that, though Australians were up very early, like six, five am, because it is very sunny. So like wake up time? No, but in terms of friendliness. Well, in Calgary, I feel like it's very similar to Australia and where I'm living at the moment in Brisbane. It reminds me a lot of Calgary as well because it is quite a small city and easy to walk around and very livable. [00:01:19] Speaker A: This is Sophie Saemes, an avid solo traveler and hostel hopper. She is also a natural creative and designer, and this year she found a way to combine the two by taking a chance to complete an exchange semester here in Calgary. [00:01:32] Speaker C: I feel as you get older and you realize you work full time, depending on your job, obviously, that you like and dislike. My job burnt me out, so the opportunity to travel again while studying was definitely a no brainer for me. [00:01:45] Speaker D: What's been your go to canadian travel snack? [00:01:49] Speaker C: Oh, cinnamon buns. [00:01:53] Speaker D: They're so good here. [00:01:55] Speaker A: This episode is called Sophie's Semester, an audio scrapbook that deep dives into an adventurer's travels past and present, both via air travel and in life. In my conversations with Sophie, whether she realized it or not, she often mentioned her dad. Steve is originally from England, where a lot of Sophie's family still lives, but he now works on a farm in Australia. [00:02:20] Speaker E: I'd say in the later years since leaving Uni and going on a journey in various career paths, she certainly sort of spread her wings to become more of an adventurer, for sure, with her trips to Europe and on her own as well, to the states as well. So she's very driven and certainly getting to see the world before she finally makes a decision of what career path to hold her down. [00:02:49] Speaker C: My passion for travel began probably when I first went to Bali when I was 21. I worked full time for five years, though, to be able to save and afford what I've done now. So really I started travelling when I was 24 for Europe for two months straight by myself. And then it went from there. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Let's strip everything back for a second. Let's figure out where we are. The next section of our conversation delved into the truth behind the start of this explorative path. [00:03:17] Speaker C: I did a bachelor of digital media and it majored in interior design, which led me to work in construction field for five years. I found that the first bachelor was good because I did three placements, but looking at it now, I didn't like an office job, sitting 8 hours a day at a computer doing drafts. And I also love art and creativity, and that was my hobby. So that's what I wanted to explore in education. [00:03:46] Speaker D: Was returning to university an easy decision, or did you have doubts? [00:03:51] Speaker C: Oh God, no. It was one of the hardest decisions. I feel like when you reach 25 and you've studied so hard for four years and then worked for five years, you think you're just throwing your life away for another career. So I had to do multiple therapy sessions and journaling and chats to get to where I am and realize that I wanted to do education and help make a difference to everyone. Trying to find the creative side when. [00:04:20] Speaker A: You'Re fortunate enough to exist within a tight knit family, changes in behavior and mood can become obvious. But it was also obvious that Sophie would receive the support she needed to make the right decision for herself. [00:04:31] Speaker E: I think her time spent was obviously a high stress environment. There was a lot of pressure placed upon her as an independent young lady to perform in an environment that was very focused on results driven, and being a new, fresh out of uni, I guess that was a huge task for her to undertake with no sort of prior front line, front of shop experience to hold her there. But certainly I think it really did affect her both emotionally and the stress related. We noticed, you know, obviously that she was very tired and very stressed. And I think when she made the decision to move on, it was a good decision. [00:05:27] Speaker C: So I was very burnt out in the interior industry. My mental health wasn't that great. I had really bad depression and anxiety. So it came to a point where I couldn't even work anymore that I quit and I took three months off altogether. And then I decided to travel and work casually as a barista for a year. And it was the best decision of my life. [00:05:50] Speaker B: Before this step was taken, Sophie was experiencing the onslaught of occupational burnout. The impacts this can have on a person's mental health can be detrimental and can also lead to a significant health and safety issue in the workplace. But at the same time, an eye opening but almost expected diagnosis was on the horizon. As a neurodivergent myself there is almost a radar for noticing it in others and it gave me a way of structuring our conversation. Specific to her, Sophie was diagnosed with ADHD at 25 and late. Neurodivergent diagnoses are common in high achieving females as there is a greater need to fit in and follow the same path as others. As a young and teenage girl, not being able to necessarily recognize the internal warning signs of overload from experiencing day to day life as a neurodivergent adds an extra layer of stress and fatigue on the mind. So the script was changed and Sophie started her solo traveling adventures. [00:06:47] Speaker A: To date, she has visited 24 major cities and 19 different countries. [00:06:52] Speaker C: Malta was my absolute favourite because I watched Mediterranean Sea and I was obsessed with that show. So to be there and see it was amazing. It was also very, just beautiful, clean. Everyone was so lively. The culture was amazing. So that was my favourite. City wise, I don't really know, to be honest, I'm not really a big city person. I did just go to Vancouver though, and that was beautiful. Okay, so I'm at Whistler and I feel like. [00:07:30] Speaker A: It'S really cute, but it's. [00:07:32] Speaker C: Like Banff but on steroids. [00:07:35] Speaker A: During her reading week break, she capitalized on the opportunity to see more of Canada. The snow had somewhat lessened at this point in the semester, but the Aussie wasn't spared from the full canadian winter experience. Yay. [00:07:55] Speaker F: I did an ice cave walk in a hike in Jasper and that was absolutely amazing. Seeing the frozen waterfall, that was just like postcard moment. [00:08:05] Speaker C: In terms, I think I've had a bit of a rough start, but I'm staying grateful. In terms of other places, I feel like Canada. I haven't really thought about this, but Canada is definitely up there. [00:08:18] Speaker A: Despite an unfortunate accident at the start of the semester and a brief spell of illness, Sophie was still able to. [00:08:25] Speaker B: Make the most of the beautiful landscape. [00:08:26] Speaker A: That Canada has to offer. This wall of adversity did indeed challenge her resilience, and at times, her current adventure was proving to be more foe than friend. [00:08:35] Speaker C: It's been an adjustment, but I feel like now, after two months, I'm slowly getting there. Um, yeah, it's been a bit rough though. I had a bit of a fall at the uni and a concussion, but I'm on the mend now and I'm doing good. [00:08:52] Speaker A: If my conversations with Sophie have taught me anything, it was inevitable that she would overcome these setbacks. Her life so far, both personally and professionally, hasn't followed a clear trajectory. Now age 26, her passions and experiences have molded together to create the welcome page for the next chapter in that scrapbook to return home and start her new career in education. [00:09:15] Speaker C: But I feel as though I after this, I kind of want to settle down back at home and realize I do love my home and the sun and the weather are really dependent on me too. And I've gotten to the point now where I don't really want to travel by myself anymore. So this has really gotten that travel bug out of me and kind of wanting to settle down and go on from life from there. [00:09:38] Speaker A: As our conversation started to conclude, I knew I wanted to ask Steve what he saw Sophie doing in the coming future. [00:09:45] Speaker E: Definitely, I know she's well suited and well placed and I think her a passion is certainly in that art therapy field. She's very artistic and very design driven and she's very open, absorbing and can really take on board people's general feelings and deliver obviously through her experience and knowledge of the best sort of outcomes for them. In terms of art, where's your next. [00:10:21] Speaker D: Destination going to be? [00:10:23] Speaker C: I'm sticking to my home base in terms of money and just because I don't want anything too extreme like I have been recently, so probably Perth in Western Australia. [00:10:41] Speaker A: You've been listening to what's your story? Threads of human experience. I'm Elle Reid and a special thanks to my guests Sophie and Steve Saemes. This series was produced in Mackinstis, also known as Calgary, the ancestral lands of the Nitsitapi, Iyahi, Nakoda, Tsutsina, and Metis peoples. This series is a part of the Community podcast initiative based out of Mountboro University where we are grateful for the opportunity to create, learn, and grow. As our stories intersect, we see value and importance in learning about the people and places where our lives unravel and recognizing our responsibility to decolonise our media practice. Be sure to subscribe to watch your story wherever you get your podcasts to. [00:11:27] Speaker B: Pull more threads and discover new stories.