Blogging is always difficult for me. I tend to forget about it, as it gets buried in my ever-growing pile of things to do.
In all fairness, I've been up to stuff.
I've spent the last week seriously researching alternative jobs. I thought a lot about doing a nursing program. There are several different tracks to pursue. First, I considered becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), which I could do in a 10-month certificate program. The pros? It would only be 10 months of not working (I'd still have to pay my mortgage, but I can't work and go to school for any of the programs in my area.), I could become licensed and start working immediately, I could quit my teaching job. Cons? I can't start this coming year because I would have to retake 3-4 prerequisite science classes (Even though I have a BA and MAT, science classes older than 5-10 years do no count for most programs.), I'd have to take and pass an entrance test in the next two weeks (While I'm absolutely confident I'd pass the Reading/Writing test with flying colors, the math and science practice tests scared the crap out of me.), and I'd have to somehow gather official copies of my high school diploma/transcript (Yes, this is actually a requirement. No, they don't care that I already have advanced degrees in other fields.) and my college transcripts.
Another option would be a direct-entry BSN/MSN program (for people with a Bachelors in a non-nursing field), in which I could get a Bachelors in Nursing in 2 years and spend one more year getting a Masters. I would be licensed as a Registered Nurse after the 2 years, then I could be a Nurse Practitioner a year after that. Pros: Most RNs are hired only with a BSN, so I'd have a better chance of getting a job; I'd have two Bachelor degrees and not have to spend 4 years getting the second; I'd get that 2nd Masters in just a year after that. Cons: So much more money to spend; I'd spend at least two years not working, which means I'd have to rely completely on my husband to pay our mortgage; I'd have to take out more student loans (Hopefully my old student loans will be paid off by December of this year.); and I'd still have to take 3-4 prerequisite courses before I could be admitted to the program.
I was all gung-ho about this transition into LPN, but after attending an information session earlier this week and talking to the program director, it might be biting off a lot more than I can chew right now, and like I've mentioned, I'd have to take so many courses to even be considered. The Direct-Entry would be the best way to go in the long run, but my mortgage won't pay itself.
*Sigh*
So now it's back to the drawing board.
I guess that this point, 9 years into teaching, I might as well suck it up and stick with it, no? Except now I also have to worry about meeting the requirements to renew my license by December 2015. Which probably means taking more courses anyway. Seriously, they don't pay me enough to take graduate level courses!
Yesterday, after talking with a friend/co-worker about my stress-level and feelings of disappointment, I realized that maybe the reason I'm so disillusioned and depressed about teaching is because I actually wanted to be a teacher. Many teachers in our school are teaching because their previous plans didn't work out. I actually wanted to do this, trained to do this, hoped that I would make a difference in the life of a child. Maybe that's why all of the b.s. that comes along with it stresses me out and annoys me so much. When you have/ had a passion for something and then everything and everyone involved seems to make your job much harder than it should be, you get frustrated and lose hope. Maybe that's my problem.
"Stop caring so much," is what people tell me. How do I turn off my care button?
I guess until I figure that out, I find other things to do to make me feel better about life: Exercise, wine, and reading.
5 comments:
Yeah, it's tough to turn off the care button, especially when you went into the profession because you DID (and do) care. Are you interested in nursing? I hear it's a super hard program. How about getting an ESL cert or something? With Spanish, that would open up some doors, especially if you have a large Hispanic community there. You definitely do need a change, but I'm not sure that nursing is it. I wish I had better ideas for you. :(
I'm somewhat interested in nursing. (I was a bio/pre-med major for a semester in college. Then got bored and hated chemistry. Now I'd have to take that dreaded class over again for nursing. Probably won't happen.) I suppose an ESL cert would be nice, since most people who are taking ESL actually WANT to learn English. I dunno though. I'm in my 30s and still haven't "figured out what I want to do with my life" yet. Growing up is hard!
It's really tough to make a career transition as an adult...but no impossible if you really want it. Nine years is a lot of time in but if you REALLY want a change go for it! I want a change I just don't know to what so I just stay where I am. You just don't want to regret it later that you didn't. It's a really tough decision. Too bad those darn bills won't pay themselves. That would solve about 90% of the problem!!
So true. If only I knew what it was I'd want to do.
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