And by later in life, I mean my early thirties.

Alright, let’s start from the very beginning: I spent my entire twenties feeling lost.

I’d scroll through social media and see everyone else hitting their milestones: promotions, dream jobs, clear career paths. Meanwhile, I was stuck. I had a computer science degree I couldn’t use (turns out I didn’t like coding that much). I’d taught myself graphic design but failed to make it work. I got freelance content writing work in digital marketing, but it never felt like enough. I knew I was capable of more.

I wasn’t a jack of all trades. I was just scattered, trying everything and mastering nothing. The anxiety of being behind everyone else ate at me.

At mid-twenties, I went back to school for a second bachelor’s degree. Four years later, I enrolled in a master’s program. That’s where everything changed.

The moment everything clicked

It happened during a project management assignment in my second year of the master’s program. I was in my early thirties. We had to plan a business idea from scratch using Microsoft Project and create a Gantt chart mapping out every step.

I chose to design an online marketplace for buying and selling second-hand items within a community, something that would connect people while promoting sustainable consumption. I had to plan the entire MVP (Minimum Viable Product) using the waterfall methodology, working within a tight budget and timeline.

As I sat there breaking down tasks, setting durations, identifying milestones, allocating resources, something clicked. For the first time in years, I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. Everything made sense. The planning, the structure, the way all the pieces fit together. I was completely hooked.

I aced this class project with flying colors. My professor was impressed by both my presentation skills and the breakdown of my project. But more importantly, I was impressed with myself. I’d finally found something I had a real affinity for.

Going all in

Once I knew this was it, I couldn’t stop. I read everything I could find about project management. I took free courses, then paid ones. But I wanted something more solid, real proof that this wasn’t just a passing interest.

So I invested in the Google Project Management Professional Certificate.

It’s six courses totaling 240 hours, designed for complete beginners with no project management experience. I worked through it while still working full-time as a content manager, and it took me three intensive months to complete. The program covers everything: project documentation, agile methods, scrum roles and events, stakeholder management, communication strategies, all grounded in real-world scenarios.

Link to the verified professional certificate on Coursera

The program taught me the fundamentals: how to document projects properly, manage teams using agile and scrum methods, communicate with stakeholders, and handle the inevitable problems that come up. Each of the six courses had its own lectures, readings, and assignments that built on each other.

I broke down what I learned from each course in this post. But if I had to summarize the whole experience? It taught me a lot and convinced me this is what I want to do.

What I loved most about this certification was how it connected the dots between all those “failed” attempts at other careers. The writing skills, the design thinking, the marketing perspective, the technical background. Suddenly, none of it was wasted. It all made sense as part of becoming a project manager.

Getting a taste of the real thing

While I was working through the Google certificate, something happened at my last job in Morocco that confirmed I was on the right path.

I was working as a content manager, and my role expanded to include coordinating some projects for partners. We were creating educational videos for students about exploring careers, study tips, that kind of thing. My job was to write the scripts and coordinate everything between my team of freelancers (a motion designer and a voiceover artist) and the client.

I handled the whole process: discussing ideas with the client, managing tasks between team members, sending deliverables, getting validation, making revisions, delivering the final product. It wasn’t PM (project management) in the official sense, but it was close. And I loved it.

These projects were punctual, happening from time to time, not my main responsibility. But every time one came up, I felt that same click I’d felt during my master’s class. This is what I want to do. Not occasionally as a side task. Full time. As my actual career.

It made me realize something else too: I don’t want to continue in digital marketing as a career path. But I also know those skills will always be useful. Digital marketing is cross-functional, transversal. You need it regardless of what industry you’re in. My digital marketing abilities will always be handy.

Looking back

I can see the pattern now. Everything I learned, even the things that didn’t work out, was preparing me for this. My varied background isn’t a weakness. It’s exactly what makes me suited for project management.

Yes, I wish I’d figured this out sooner. I won’t lie about that. But I also know that everything happened at my own pace. I know what I want to do: now that I’m in Canada, the supposed land of opportunities, I want to laser focus on PM and PM only. Build a new career on it. That’s the plan.

Getting there is the next challenge, but at least I’m not lost anymore.

If you’re in your twenties or thirties feeling lost, if you’re worried you’re behind, if you’re watching everyone else seem to have it figured out—I get it. I was there. Sometimes the path to where you’re supposed to be isn’t a straight line. Sometimes it takes trying (and failing at) a bunch of things before you find the one thing that finally clicks.

I’m a late bloomer, and I’m okay with that now.

Featured image courtesy of Rawpixel.