From cloud 9 to cloud -1,000,000

It was nearing the end of June and within 6 months I already figured out what my true passion was, met and spoke with some awesome jewelers, and landed a job with a prominent retailer in the area. Things were off to a great start and I was beyond ecstatic!

I went through a few days of training before being placed on the floor as a gold buyer. I learned how to test for the different karats of gold and the validity of silver, how to weigh out the metals, account for the stones, and check the market for spot prices. I had the pleasure of examining a lot of really nice pieces from all over the world. On the contrary, I also had to examine some not so nice pieces that I really felt I should be using gloves while handling.

The majority of the customers were positive and friendly, but occasionally I would hear really sad stories of mourning and losses as customers cashed in their treasures. Aside from the somber stories, I thoroughly enjoyed coming to work and was very thankful each day for the opportunity to further my dreams. Within my first week on the floor I sold a $5,000 link chain. The store had a pretty extensive watch collection and I participated in a watch briefing where I quickly realized watches are pretty much of no genuine interest to me. The store also had a coin department, not much interest for me there either, but I did have a bracelet that seemed to be made out of real coins. We were able to find the coin in a book and I learned that the coins I had on my bracelet were in fact real Peruvian coins.