Why being laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me

It was almost one year ago when I received the news.  I would be laid off from Baltimore City Public Schools as the school system television general manager .  Layoffs are always an interesting thing, and if you have been through them at an office it can be a morale-killer. I saw colleagues leaving their cubicle crying, shouting, and doing all sorts of things.  It is an emotional time and I remember it like it was yesterday.  

My boss at the time broke the news that changes were coming throughout the district, you know “cost-cutting” measures because resources had to be reallocated back to schools.

I was upset, mad at God, mad at the school system and just plain irked.
I received the official termination letter on April 15, 2011 that stated my job was to end on June 30, 2011. I made some phone calls to contacts and had a scheduled interview at Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts and on May 15, 2011 I was hired to become a teacher. I will never forget the day when I handed my boss the transfer papers and the look of shock on her face. 

I would have never had become a teacher if I hadn’t had that seismic shift in my career.  I was one of the first persons from my department to find another job and did it within a month! Sometimes in life things have to shift in order for you to find your purpose. I have many challenges in my new career, but the rewards have been so great. 

What’s holding you back from finding your purpose?  

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About Chip Dizárd

Chip is a Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Photoshop Certified Trainer and is passionate about helping people leverage technology for business and communications. He’s done a bit of everything from video production, to web, and application development.
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  • RKCS Learning Solutions

    That’s how RKCS began, with a job loss. You’re absolutely right. Sometimes we hold on to things and that’s not where we’re supposed to be. So, we need the rug pulled out sometimes to exercise faith a bit a move forward to our place.Thanks for being vulnerable throughout this journey.RK

  • Wes Guerrier

    Chip, that was an awesome testimony. God has a tendency to show you your potential when you are seemingly at your low point. It’s how you respond and react during that circumstance that determines your future success. You are proof of the triumphant spirit that exists in all of us, if we make the conscious effort to make lemonade out of the lemons in life!

  • Chip Dizárd

    Thanks Wes! I appreciate your comment, in retrospect I see why it all happened. Even though teaching is tough, I havelearned so much since last year.