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The trajectories of our life and career journeys can be straightforward, or they can be convoluted, with many sharp turns, nooks and crannies, and detours along the way. The changes and challenges that life has in store for us can be great. What matters most is that they eventually lead to a happy and fulfilled life – and not just in career terms. The following stories of personalities from among AMU graduates illustrate this statement.
What can two jobs as disparate as photography and cider making have in common? A lot, surprisingly. “Both are creative – both have a technical background and require you to tackle the current situation at all costs. Having said that, of course, those are two completely different worlds,” says Jáchym Kliment who, in addition to having graduated from FAMU in photography and still pursuing that career, also operates Cidrerie Kliment in Dobřichovice. “It’s been both a blessing and a curse in the sense that both of my hobbies have turned into jobs, which I actually still love doing. Given its seasonality, cider making has to be done during somewhat more clearly defined periods within the year, whereas I can find some time to take photographs at almost ‘any’ time,” says Jáchym, adding that his working priorities are constantly evolving. Jáchym’s professional direction was influenced by the fact that he grew up in an intellectual family, yet he also discovered his desire for creating something more ‘tangible’. “Which is why, before graduating from the high school of graphic design, I got a tractor driver’s licence and went to volunteer at one of the Czech Republic’s first organic apple orchard farms. I didn’t drink beer or wine, so it was a challenge to try and make my first cider purely for my own consumption,” he describes the beginning of the journey whose destination is a beverage of his own making. Over the course of a few years, he got an opportunity to process the entire harvest, and later on also the harvests from other organic orchards. “In the meantime, I left for an internship in France as a FAMU student, and I confirmed that the natural production of cider is basically art, and it came full circle for me,” he adds. Although Jáchym pursues several jobs at once, he is convinced that narrowly focused specialists are still very much in need. “Every day, I come across new issues that I would love to learn about, but I know I will never have time for that in my life again, so I better leave it to an expert who has already put the time in. Still, I think that multi-discipline work is very beneficial. It allows you to observe things from various angles, and thus come up with innovations, make better decisions, do more interesting things, and so on,” he says and explains that the sheer range of activities is what he enjoys about doing multiple activities at once. “With the variety, you never get bored – you avoid routine because you always do something different. And I love learning, coming up with ideas, and then making them happen all the time,” he notes. Does he still want to try and learn something new? “Without a doubt. I think ten years is an adequate amount of time for you to learn the field and get to know the limits – both yours and those of the job. So, I will certainly be adding something,” Jáchym Kliment concludes.
