Hi, I’m Gabrielle Arsenault, master’s student in career counseling and content creator for Nxcareer. As I move through my own journey, I’ve realized that I have a particular interest in non-traditional career paths. I’m talking about people who take a detour, change direction along the way, must take a break due to health reasons, juggle family responsibilities, or simply move at their own pace, outside of expected norms. Paths that are shaped by resilience, adaptation, and often, deep human richness.

When Health Disrupts the Career Path

I believe that the reason non-traditional paths resonate so deeply with me is because I’m living one myself. My interest in nonlinear journeys is closely tied to my own story. My health led me to rethink the path I had mapped out, forcing me to slow down, to adapt, to pay attention in a different way. This reality now shapes how I am, how I learn, and how I connect with others.

A few years ago, I never imagined that my health would become such an important factor in my career journey. Like many people, I thought willpower and determination would be enough. Until the day my body forced me to slow down… and reconsider my priorities.

This text is a piece of my story, but also an invitation to better understand the experience of many people who navigate their professional lives with a chronic condition, often invisible to others.

I was diagnosed at the age of 12, a time when choosing a career still felt far away. That’s when I learned I was living with a chronic kidney disease. An invisible condition that doesn’t show on the outside, but deeply affects everyday life. Back then, I didn’t think my physical abilities would ever be challenged. But over time and with experience, I had to accept that certain limits were imposed on me, whether I liked it or not. Early on, I learned to be independent, to understand things much bigger than myself, and to see the world differently. So far, my journey has been filled with a wide range of emotions, some hard to face, like anger, frustration, denial, and sadness. But there has also been softness, bursts of joy, and deeply bright moments. It’s not always easy, but it has helped me grow and better understand myself.

Losing a Passion: A First Turning Point

Without realizing it, my life-career path was already being shaped shortly after my diagnosis. My first major loss was having to give up the sport I loved most, gymnastics. It was a shock. A true identity crisis that, at that age, felt like the end of the world. I felt lost, unsure of how to define myself anymore. That sport wasn’t just a hobby, it was part of who I was, part of my everyday life, and how I saw myself. Losing it made me realize how important it had been. At that moment, I felt like I had to redefine myself without that key piece of my identity.

Reinventing You Career While Honoring Your Passions

After having to turn the page on a passion that once deeply inspired me, and with the support of those around me, lots of self-reflection, and a good dose of resilience, I found a new path: coaching. It was a way for me to stay involved in gymnastics while passing on my passion to younger athletes. That choice became one of the most meaningful in my life. It led me to study physical education, where I spent five beautiful years deepening my knowledge, not just of sports, but of teaching and human development.

During my early university years, my condition remained relatively stable thanks to medical follow-ups and medication. Some back pain emerged, but I could still manage them.

A Forced Pause in the Career Journey

It was at the end of my second year of university, just a few weeks after my very first internship, that a turning point began to take shape. What I didn’t know at the time was this period would mark the beginning of a more difficult chapter. A moment that would slowly lead me to reflect more deeply on my path and on the choices I would have to make, particularly in terms of my professional life.

To be continued in Part Two