It seems that with all the new people I meet that I happen to have an extended conversation with, they ask me “So… Marc, what is it you do?” and sometimes it’s less than easy to tell them everything it is that I spend my time on. I’ve always thought of myself as a really well rounded individual – I retain talents in many different fields, and as such, I’m currently exploring many different paths to many different goals, all to one end: early retirement with financial security beyond any doubt.
Some might say, that it’s less than efficient to spread your efforts so thin; I’ve come to realize this myself, however, I still pursue many different endeavours simply because I still maintain a genuine interest and have yet to make a final decision as to what it is I want to do with the future.
If you look at the following picture, you’ll see a visual representation of almost everything I’ve been a part of in a professional (or pseudo professional) capacity within the past 12 months, and for a select few, a little longer than that.
Marc Cizravi's involvement in the past 12 months...
- University of Western Ontario (Undergraduate student)
I’m currently between my 2nd and 3rd year of my undergraduate degree (Major in Biology) at Western (www.uwo.ca), located in London, Ontario. I decided to take the 09/10 academic school year off so I could work to save money, and pursue a couple personal projects (this website being one of them). Ideally, I’d like to attend medical school (or so was the dream a couple years ago) but it’s become painfully apparent that to get accepted to medical school, you need to have a laser-like focus on your academics. Outside distractions such as work, volunteer, social activities, and life in general need to be properly balanced to achieve such results. - Student Emergency Response Team (Emergency Medical Responder, EMR)
SERT is a volunteer group of approximately 50 undergraduate and graduate students who are trained in advanced first-response emergency medicine. SERT runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week throughout the school year, and 8 hours a day through the summer term. Anytime a 9-1-1 call is made on campus, it gets routed to Western’s campus police dispatch, and they’ll send a page to the three EMR’s on call at that time. Successfully joining SERT (when I did) meant you had to be trained in at least First-Aid by a recognized organization, pass a vigorous application process, and then undergo more than 50 hours of training before officially being on-call. In the picture you can see: my uniform that was mandatory when on-call, campus badge with identification, emergency medical responder patch from the Canadian Red Cross, and numerous cards representing all my certifications. Emergency First-Aid and CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator), Emergency First Responder, Emergency Medical Responder, and after having done all that I also completed a course so I would be able to teach Emergency First-Aid and CPR/AED use. Learn more about SERT at www.uwo.sert.ca. - Apple Retail (Mac Specialist)
In October 2009, I got a job working at the Apple store in Fairview mall as a ‘Mac Specialist’. This title is essentially that of a glorified salesman, however, additional responsibilities such as technical support would randomly fall into my lap (and having that prior experience) I wasn’t opposed to the change of pace.My goal when I started working at Apple was just to absorb as much as I could in a short period of time. I’ve been an I.T. consultant for quite some time, and having some time behind the scenes at Apple would just add to my repertoire. I knew it wasn’t going to be a long-term engagement, as such, I took advantage of my discount while I was there and bid my farewells when my new job was lined up and ready to go. In the image above you can see my lanyards, two t-shirts, business card, and other purchase consultation cards.
- 2006 Mazda3 GS (New car post-accident)
In December of 2006 I was involved in a collision that was ruled not my fault. A women had failed to yield to a stop sign and forced me to collide with her, damaging my car beyond reperation. The damage to my then 1997 Ford Escort LX (valued by my insurance company at $2,000) was over $5,000. As such, I was cut a check for my vehicle and had to say my goodbyes. A little over a month later, I purchased a used 2006 Mazda3 GS, pictured here. In the image above, you’ll see the key to my old Escort, and my new 3. - My Own Blog (www.marccizravi.com & www.marccizravi.net)
A little under a year ago I decided I want to invest a little time to establish a presence on the internet. I started investigating the best way to go about putting a blog together, re-learned some HTML and CSS, and (with the help of Wordpress) put together this website that you’re currently browsing. The goal was to have something online so that a) I would have a forum to talk about whatever I wanted to, and b) a small website that generates a some traffic that I could dedicate to marketing my book, when I finish writing it. Above you’ll see the main page printed out (just one page). - Marc I.T. Pro (www.marcitpro.com)
I’ve actually been a “computer guy” aka I.T. consultant for numerous years. In a couple months I will have spent more than 10 years fixing computers for myself, family, friends, and clients. I thought it would be good to take my “side income” to the next level. I decided to put a website together for my own consulting firm. I took the experience I had received from putting this blog together, and applied it to www.marcitpro.com. Again, pictured above is a printed out page from the website which lists all my references. - Bartender for Liberty (Splash Patio @ Harbourfront Centre, Flow, Ciao in Yorkville, Toronto)
In the summer of 2009 I landed my first bartending job (after having worked the previous summer as a server) at the Splash Patio (Liberty Group Entertainment). I quickly took to it and after a week or two I found myself making good money (weather permitting) preparing drinks for a 70+ table restaurant, in addition to tending to walk up customers. I questioned why I didn’t try harder to get behind the bar sooner, as it was clear that bartending was a much more lucrative position than serving… so much so. After receiving this promotion, I made the transition to bar work at a couple other nice places, gaining further experience with a more exotic menu. Bartending is something that I’ll always be able to “fall back” on – easily the highest income potential for the least challenging work. Pictured is one of my Liberty Group t-shirts, celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the company in 2007. - Catherine
Last but definitely not least (quite the opposite) centered you see a picture of myself with my beautiful girlfriend Catherine. It’s been more than 2 years since we first started seeing each other, and I can honestly say that nothing else in my life has yet to bring me the satisfaction of a fullfilling relationship with this incredible girl. I love you with all my heart Catherine :]
