(side note...to read Part 1 and Part 2 click on them. I swear this is the last part! Thanks for all of your sweet comments and for listening...well reading, but you know what I mean. )
The Plan
At this point, I am planning on quiting my job in May to start school. Of course that all hinges on me getting into school somewhere. There are three colleges in my area that have Masters in Teaching programs where you go for one year, full time (May to May) and come out with both a Masters and a teaching certification.
To prepare I am going to be working on applications, getting transcripts etc... this fall. I'm not telling anyone at work because I don't want to get fired or something. I am also trying to save some extra money and looking at possibly selling my expensive car for something cheaper. And not shopping for clothes...which sucks.
Another thing I am deliberating about is taking the Praxis 1, I will have to take it eventually (I think) but because of my SAT scores I am not required to take it to get into school. However I will probably just take it, figure it couldn't hurt.
As of last Saturday I started a very part time job. My brother is involved with a drama school (it's kind of like a dance studio but for musical theater and drama) and I had talked to the director a year or so ago about getting involved just for fun but it didn't really work with my schedule. Recently, I told her about my plans and how I wanted to find something kid-related to add to my resume as well as make some extra money and she offered me a job teaching one of the "Broadway Babies" classes. It's 3, 4 and 5 year olds and it runs for a month. This one is all Halloween themed which is a lot of fun. Hopefully, I can keep doing it even when I am in school!
So a lot of changes will be happening for me soon and I am very excited/nervous! Now that you all know the whole story I will keep you all in the loop about what is going on!
Showing posts with label changes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label changes. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
ch-ch-ch-changes Part 2
(side note...To read part one click here. If you don't have any interest in my long winded life story please skip these posts. It's a lot of information but I feel like I have to share the whole story if I am going to share anything.)
The Choice
In early 2009 things with my job got very frustrating. The department was going through a lot of changes and there were no opportunities to move anywhere in the company. People started getting fired and laid off. My optimism was fading fast and I was burned out.
To be honest, this was the first time I really started to think about a life long career. Which is sort of sad since I had spent 4 years in college and almost 2 years in Corperate America at this point. I always hoped to be able to stop working and stay home with my kids eventually and sort of planned on that. Now, I realize I have no idea where I will be financially when I have kids so I shouldn't assume something that might not be possible.
I came back to the idea of being a teacher. I missed working with kids and the opportunity to be creative. Being a teacher would also give me a more conducive schedule whenever I did have children of my own. And most importantly, a chance to work at a job that I felt passionate about and would make me want to go to work (most of the time...there is no job where you want to go everyday.)
The thing holding me back was...of course...money. I would have to borrow money to go back to school no matter if I went full time or part time and with K borrowing money for law school I was scared to take on even more.
So, I abandoned the idea and continued to try and be optimistic and look for new jobs within my current company. I also started this blog as a way to get out my creativity.
In the early summer I came back to the idea and had a long conversation with K about it over several margaritas. I told him it was something I really wanted and he said he thought I would be really good at it, however finaces came into the discussion again. He thought maybe I should wait until he was done with law school, which I didn't want to do. Mainly because I thought I would loose momentum and at that point probably be focused on other things. So yet again, I abandonded the idea.
Or did I? I took some time to research the process as well as schools in the area and then told my family and K in the begining of August that I wanted to go for it. I thought about it while at the beach and told myself if after a week of thinking I still wanted to do it I should move forward. I am fourtante that compared to a lot of people I don't have a ton of undergrad loans and I would rather have to struggle for a year and pay back money in the future for a chance to actually be happy in my career.
Everyone I have told so far as been very supportive (except for maybe my dad but he is warming up to the idea) but I still havn't told a lot of people.
(Part 3 will come soon)
The Choice
In early 2009 things with my job got very frustrating. The department was going through a lot of changes and there were no opportunities to move anywhere in the company. People started getting fired and laid off. My optimism was fading fast and I was burned out.
To be honest, this was the first time I really started to think about a life long career. Which is sort of sad since I had spent 4 years in college and almost 2 years in Corperate America at this point. I always hoped to be able to stop working and stay home with my kids eventually and sort of planned on that. Now, I realize I have no idea where I will be financially when I have kids so I shouldn't assume something that might not be possible.
I came back to the idea of being a teacher. I missed working with kids and the opportunity to be creative. Being a teacher would also give me a more conducive schedule whenever I did have children of my own. And most importantly, a chance to work at a job that I felt passionate about and would make me want to go to work (most of the time...there is no job where you want to go everyday.)
The thing holding me back was...of course...money. I would have to borrow money to go back to school no matter if I went full time or part time and with K borrowing money for law school I was scared to take on even more.
So, I abandoned the idea and continued to try and be optimistic and look for new jobs within my current company. I also started this blog as a way to get out my creativity.
In the early summer I came back to the idea and had a long conversation with K about it over several margaritas. I told him it was something I really wanted and he said he thought I would be really good at it, however finaces came into the discussion again. He thought maybe I should wait until he was done with law school, which I didn't want to do. Mainly because I thought I would loose momentum and at that point probably be focused on other things. So yet again, I abandonded the idea.
Or did I? I took some time to research the process as well as schools in the area and then told my family and K in the begining of August that I wanted to go for it. I thought about it while at the beach and told myself if after a week of thinking I still wanted to do it I should move forward. I am fourtante that compared to a lot of people I don't have a ton of undergrad loans and I would rather have to struggle for a year and pay back money in the future for a chance to actually be happy in my career.
Everyone I have told so far as been very supportive (except for maybe my dad but he is warming up to the idea) but I still havn't told a lot of people.
(Part 3 will come soon)
ch-ch-ch-changes Part 1
(side note...this is a post I have been meaning to write for a long time, as you might have guessed it will explain the changes I have been alluding to over the past month or so. So it's not the longest post ever, I will break it up into multiple posts. If you don't have any interest in my long winded life story please skip these posts. It's a lot of information but I feel like I have to share the whole story if I am going to share anything.)
Impulsively, I changed my major to Communications with an emphasis in Broadcasting. Surely I would be able to have a fabulous life working in television, living in NYC and being just like Carrie Bradshaw. I liked my major, it was fun, creative and not very academically strenuous. The summer before my senior year I got an internship on the show Sesame Street and was optimistic this would be the start of my amazing Manhattan life. I was wrong. I didn't really like living in Manhattan or working in TV. It was a lot of bitch work and not much money. Some of my bosses had to file for unemployment for part of the year as well as work 2 or 3 extra jobs. I'm glad I had the experience, but it made me really rethink my career options. (by the way I wrote about my NYC thoughts in this old post.)
I went back to school and enjoyed my senior year. When it came time to start the job search my criteria included something with normal hours, a company where I could eventually move up, and somewhat related to communications. I went on a lot of random interviews and a lot of jobs seemed interesting...but I didn't get any of them. To be honest, I wish I had found a random job babysitting or something during the summer after college and taken some time to think...but I panicked. My parents were putting a lot of pressure on me so when I was offered an entry level job at my current company, I accepted.
The pay wasn't great and I didn't really like what I was doing, but I did well at it and knew that if I continued to preform I would be able to move into a job I enjoyed in a year. It's a large company so I was sure I could find something that fit me. After only 6 months I was asked to interview for another position which paid more and seemed to have more responsibilities, I got the job...and have been there ever since.
For a long time I tried to be optimistic about what I was doing. The economy was tanking so I was happy to have a job. Plus I knew someday I would find something else. But, as time wore on and I became more and more frustrated. The job just wasn't for me.
The Background
I am a person who is interested in a lot of different things, which is good in some ways and bad in others. For example, good= a lot of random knowledge and an excellent player of trivia games Bad= my career choices or I should say career confusion thus far.
Impulsively, I changed my major to Communications with an emphasis in Broadcasting. Surely I would be able to have a fabulous life working in television, living in NYC and being just like Carrie Bradshaw. I liked my major, it was fun, creative and not very academically strenuous. The summer before my senior year I got an internship on the show Sesame Street and was optimistic this would be the start of my amazing Manhattan life. I was wrong. I didn't really like living in Manhattan or working in TV. It was a lot of bitch work and not much money. Some of my bosses had to file for unemployment for part of the year as well as work 2 or 3 extra jobs. I'm glad I had the experience, but it made me really rethink my career options. (by the way I wrote about my NYC thoughts in this old post.)
I went back to school and enjoyed my senior year. When it came time to start the job search my criteria included something with normal hours, a company where I could eventually move up, and somewhat related to communications. I went on a lot of random interviews and a lot of jobs seemed interesting...but I didn't get any of them. To be honest, I wish I had found a random job babysitting or something during the summer after college and taken some time to think...but I panicked. My parents were putting a lot of pressure on me so when I was offered an entry level job at my current company, I accepted.
The pay wasn't great and I didn't really like what I was doing, but I did well at it and knew that if I continued to preform I would be able to move into a job I enjoyed in a year. It's a large company so I was sure I could find something that fit me. After only 6 months I was asked to interview for another position which paid more and seemed to have more responsibilities, I got the job...and have been there ever since.
For a long time I tried to be optimistic about what I was doing. The economy was tanking so I was happy to have a job. Plus I knew someday I would find something else. But, as time wore on and I became more and more frustrated. The job just wasn't for me.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Inspired to Make Changes
Over the weekend my great-uncle J came to visit my parents and my brother. He has never met any of my siblings before and wanted to come meet us (my brother specifically) and give him some advice on college since my brother is interested in theater and Uncle J has spent his entire life as a professional dancer.
He is 80 years old and was raised in a farming community in Ohio, yet he followed his dreams and danced in ballet companies, musicals, operas, and on television all over the world. Listening to his stories I got to thinking about the importance of doing something that you love. Uncle J had times where he only had 25 cents and two suitcases to his name, times when he couldn't afford to eat and once had to live with his entire bankrupt dance company in an abandoned barn in France. Howerver, through it all he was following his passion and has lived a very full and exciting life.
Looking back at my own life so far, career-wise, I am disappointed. I changed my major in college to something I thought would be more exciting, then changed my mind again to something I thought would let me make more money. Now, I am unhappy with what I am doing but have been resisting going back to school because I am worried about taking out student loans. K is going to have a lot of student loan debt from law school and I don't want to add to that but, I don't want what he does to keep me from going for my own dreams.
So now I am taking Uncle J's advice, writing things down and doing some planning. Big changes are on the way for me, and hopefully they will be good ones.
He is 80 years old and was raised in a farming community in Ohio, yet he followed his dreams and danced in ballet companies, musicals, operas, and on television all over the world. Listening to his stories I got to thinking about the importance of doing something that you love. Uncle J had times where he only had 25 cents and two suitcases to his name, times when he couldn't afford to eat and once had to live with his entire bankrupt dance company in an abandoned barn in France. Howerver, through it all he was following his passion and has lived a very full and exciting life.
Looking back at my own life so far, career-wise, I am disappointed. I changed my major in college to something I thought would be more exciting, then changed my mind again to something I thought would let me make more money. Now, I am unhappy with what I am doing but have been resisting going back to school because I am worried about taking out student loans. K is going to have a lot of student loan debt from law school and I don't want to add to that but, I don't want what he does to keep me from going for my own dreams.
So now I am taking Uncle J's advice, writing things down and doing some planning. Big changes are on the way for me, and hopefully they will be good ones.
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