January 5, 2014
I decided to start this blog as a result of my frustration due to the fact that I have spent the last ten years of my life in a race to get qualified and professionally certified, only to wind up "overqualified" and "underemployed". You see, in the last ten years, I have earned a Bachelor's degree, a Master of Arts in School Psychology, a Master of Science in Educational Psychology, and a license as a Massage and Bodywork Therapist (for good measure).
I was a full-time doctoral student while raising four of my seven children (ranging in age from 8-20) as a single mom. Prior to this, I was an official, pioneering HOME SCHOOL MOM (circa 1988) teaching all seven of my children at home while attending night school to finish my undergraduate degree. Prior to this, I was employed as a pediatric office nurse (LPN). After finishing my Bachelor's degree in human growth and development, I got so excited about sharing the wealth of knowledge I had attained during my fifteen years of home schooling special needs students, I thought perhaps my experience would allow me to have a greater impact on the world as an educator than I could as a nurse. So, I applied and was accepted to a graduate program in School Psychology. Everything was going along swimmingly until I suddenly found myself as a single mom and sole supporter of four of my seven children. Although I was unable to complete my internship, I did manage to complete my Master of Arts degree which looked good on my resume but, without a license, did nothing for me as far as getting a job.
So, I started working as a K-12 substitute teacher for three different public school systems, all at the same time. At one point, I subbed all day, and worked retail all night. When I left the classroom at 3:00 PM, I went directly to my second job at the Sears jewelry department and cat-napped in my car at the Sears parking lot from 3:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon before beginning my shift from 5:00 to 10:00 PM. I would get home around 10:30, hit the rack by 11:30 PM, and then be up at the crack of dawn the next morning ready to supervise a class full of 30+ kids.
In case you are wondering about the root cause of my predicament, it is because I hadn't been able to find one single, full-time job with income substantial enough to permit me to pay off my student loans. I stayed in school, legitimately working toward college degrees, in order to maintain deferment status on my school loans. Consequently, I have spent the better part of the last decade working two jobs as sole provider for my family while continuing my post-graduate education. When I finally landed a job as an adjunct professor of undergraduate psychology, developmental psychology, and health psychology, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, but after two years of long hours and little pay, I started thinking...if only I had a job as an RN...then at least I would be making a paycheck decent enough to pay off my school loans!
After successfully completing an LPN refresher course, I felt honored to be accepted into the Associate Degree Nursing program at the same community college where I was also teaching as an adjunct professor. It was really tough juggling my full-time nursing course work, labs and hospital clinicals during the day while also teaching or grading papers every evening. After successfully completing four of five semesters in the RN program, I backed off on everything else in my life (including my job) in order to achieve my goal of graduating from the ADN/RN program...but this was not to be. My dismissal from the RN program in the spring of 2013, with only one more course left to graduate, was the most devastating experience of my entire life. I was told by the nursing administration, "you just need more time; come back next year". Well, OK, that would have been fine if it weren't for the fact that I am already 61 years old! Unfortunately, I no longer have the luxury of devoting another year of my life to being an unemployed, full-time nursing student!!!
Fast forward to the present. I am presently enrolled in my second semester of a Master of Science in Clinical Counseling online degree program with the goal of becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor. I am now able to work full time while completing my degree. I thought it would be no big deal getting a job with my background and experience, but after ten months of applying for employment as a Qualified Mental Health Professional, every position I apply for demands that I have either one year of full-time work experience with a mental health agency or...guess what...? A license as a Registered Nurse!
Well, at least I have a part time job and shouldn't complain. I enjoy my current work environment and get along well with my fellow coworkers in my present position as a substitute teacher for an early childhood development program. I love the kids and believe I excel at nurturing young minds, helping them to develop social skills, and engaging them in creative problem solving, specifically as it relates to conflict resolution. However, I long to be doing work that utilizes all the tools in my skill-set instead of work I could have done with a high school diploma or an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education.
Alas, guess who is trying to figure out if it's possible for me to pick up that "one remaining course" to become an RN so that I can work as a QMHP, so that I can be gainfully employed, so that I can afford to pay off my graduate degree "debt rags"?
