New beginnings

After five years as a journalist, I'm finally throwing in the towel. Five years is a rather short time to be disillusioned by a profession, but I've pretty much 'been there, done that' and there's little left to explore.

There are several reasons why I'm quitting, but the most significant one is that I don't enjoy doing this anymore. It started with not being interested in writing, so I moved to the desk. Then I got tired of copy-editing mediocre writing and ended up feeling like a mediocre writer myself. I wondered if there was any hope at all.

Of course, it's not been all bad, and I'm currently with one of the most comfortable newspapers in the country. It's the only set of people I ever really enjoyed working with, other than a few individuals from previous jobs that have become close friends over the years.

So, what's next? For starters, I'm going back to college. And not just any college, it's a little known university tucked away in the south of France where the sun shines through the year and everybody looks like George Clooney and Giselle Bundchen. I'm going to the International University of Monaco (yes, they have a college there), for a Master of Sciences in Luxury Goods and Services.

Wazzat?
That's brand management with a rather expensive twist! Basically, managing a luxury goods company in the global scenario. Before I stumbled onto this program, I didn't know there was something called a 'global luxury goods market' worth over $80 billion... that Asia is one of the largest consumers of Western luxury goods... and that India is the newest hot growth market with humongous potential. Seems like my timing was just perfect!

Interestingly, I've always felt that I've been in the right place at the right time throughout my professional career. I guess I've been lucky that way. Hopefully, this will turn out to be a great return on investment in the coming years. I've never been more excited about anything in a really long time, so I'm really looking forward to starting afresh.

My slate will be wiped clean in August (when I leave for Monaco) and I will once again let life begin its not-so-random doodling. There's just something so adrenalin-rushing (does that phrase even make sense?!) about taking a risk and diving headlong into something you have little experience of but are determined to excel at, non?