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S/O returning to school in midlife?


Mrs Tiggywinkle
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I know multiple women who've done it as their kids got within the last 4-5 years. I know some who jumped ship homeschooling early to do it. And really I don't think those moms had regrets. 

I'm thinking about it pretty hard myself. My trouble is both my nature (I'm not sure how compatible my social skills and personality are with employment) and the pay. Things that pay enough to motivate me take a while to get the coursework for. I'm at that window/age where I feel like I need to make a decision in the next two years if I'm going to do it.

Did you say you're pursuing nursing? Someone told me I'd be no good at it, but I thought that dialysis nurse gig would fit me just fine. I know nothing about it, lol. It seems like many people go into education after homeschooling, so I was looking at a master's in special ed like someone else here just said she did. I've done so much with my ds, it would be logical. What I don't know is whether I'd hit a point where I'd just want to do something DIFFERENT. 

34 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

especially if you had little kids?

I think in your case you're organized enough that really the limiting factor will be how well your kids' school placements are working out. Were you considering going full time or part time? 

My mother went back to college when we were young so she could divorce my father. (crass but true) She got addicted to caffeine because she was working so hard (commute, classes, etc.), so that was really hard to watch at the end of each semester. I guess don't do that. Although her degree got her a job, it wasn't a very well paying one. I'm not sure the trade off (money vs. time lost with us) was worth it. At the time she obviously thought it was. It just made for a very disconnected childhood, with my dad always gone and my mother always busy.

My dh did some grad school a few years ago and I don't think that was worth it either. He was very distracted at pivotal times in his kids' lives and I think they would have rather had time with him. So yeah, I think there are situations where sometimes it's a good idea that could wait. Not that I'm saying that's YOUR situation, because I'm not thinking that hard. I'm just saying those are my stories. 

For me, with my ds my dh has asked me to wait two years to get him into a better place. I tend to get very sucked into things (all or nothing) so he's right. You know yourself. I think I could probably do one undergrad prereq class at a time without a big deal, but anything serious would be engrossing and distracting.

What happens if your dh decides he wants to become a nurse practitioner? I have no clue, just throwing that out there. If he's snappy intelligent, I wouldn't be shocked if that's his next ask. It could bump his pay enough you wouldn't need to do the nursing thing. Then it would be your pleasure, and maybe your pleasure would be something else?

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From someone who didn't do it (so I shouldn't be responding)... you should do it. Start small and take your time - at 40 you have a good bit of time. But do it. You do not want to be 65 and thinking of the things you could have done but didn't do. At some point is truly is too late to do new things, but you are not there yet, not even close. And with your background I don't think it's a huge leap - like, not a complete career change. But even if it was that, do it. Just do it. 

I know lots of women around your age who are going into nursing school, actually. It's hard but they have a goal and they are going to reach it. Some of them are taking one online class per term so they can keep homeschooling. So it will take a while. But they are working toward it.

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I started this during the pandemic.  I wanted something for me.

How I make it work - my classes are on Zoom or asynchronous as much as possible.  I have one lab class to take that will wait until spring or summer, when I have extra help again.  The only conflicts are when I have a crazy teacher who doesn't get her act together and randomly assigns Zoom classes.  This semester I have a weekly in-person commitment as well, but I'm angling for that to be any day but Monday, so that I have someone with ds mostly.

Classwork - I work for an hour at 5am most days, and again after ds goes to bed.  I am meticulous with my syllabi so that I know every moving piece and can work it into my available time.

Paying for it - I tutor. We are still paying ds's out of state tuition from his first year, so my school is paid in cash.  We make just barely too much for financial assistance, but I have applied for grants. Will I get any?  No idea.  Hopeful, though.  It'll make next semester a little easier on us.

 

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1 hour ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

I didn’t want to hijack Laura’s thread.  What’s your story? Was it workable? How did you manage, especially if you had little kids?

 

As I posted in the other thread, I started college at 46 in the midst of a messy divorce. DS was homeschooling high school and we'd always had a very interactive homeschooling style. We also had a very limited income. I did my first year of classes online to save money and allow me to be home to actually homeschool. That worked great. The next year I had to be on campus (40 miles away) 2 or 3 days a week, so after much consideration, I opted to graduate ds a year early as he really needed interaction and better faciliation than I could give. He started college with me the next year - which actually turned out great for us - we have a really good relationship. 

I had so many people ask if I was going into nursing when they heard I was starting school. I am the last person you want as your nurse, so the question always threw me. I opted to major in history thinking I'd just get some kind of related or tangential job once I finished my BA. Instead I started grad school (not the same school as my undergrad) with the total support of my family (now ds & my mom - we all shared a house by that time). It's totally self indulgent. I thought I'd just do my master's, instead the university offered me a great deal to stay for my PhD - which is more self-indulgence! My SO is totally supportive. There are a lot of circumstances that make me feel hesitant of this direction, including some of the guilt of doing something for me at this age, but I'm committed to finishing. I'm taking my last course this semester and will do comps in the spring. 

I opted to pursue an undergraduate degree in person because I knew I needed the in person interaction. If ds had been younger, I would have opted for a fully online program and continued to homeschool. 

I have no regrets about my undergraduate, none really about my master's. I'll get back to you on the PhD😎.

 

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I just needed to take 14 units to renew my teaching credential. I did not even think to try to do it until my youngest was in 8th grade--by then she was fine on her own if I needed to take a day class (I did one class per quarter for 3 quarters--2 day classes one night class, all in person). I also was taking mostly math classes which are fun and easy for me (I was renewing my credential to teach math), so except for the one speech class, the workload wasn't bad. It all felt expensive at the time--about $500 per class and me with no job--but even just subbing my first year back in the workforce earned that back quickly. If I had it to do over again, I would have done it sooner.

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I was in school from before my oldest was born, until she was 10.   I was also working full time through most of that time period, and at times also working a part time job.    This was before my homeschool life.  

It was hard, I'm not going to lie about that.   Money wasn't as big of a concern since I went to basically the least expensive state university in our area for most of it.    I scheduled my classes in one or two days as much as possible (usually had to do two days for lab classes), went to schools that had a lot of options for people who worked full time.  For a while I worked at 3am to 11am shift to make it possible to take classes while dd was in school.   And I finished up the last of my credits for both the Biology and the Marketing online through Thomas Edison State University.  

It would have been a lot easier if I had a supportive spouse (ex was definitely not that, and his attitude toward me working to finish my degrees contributed to our divorce), the marketing and teaching degrees were definitely easier than the Biology because of the lab courses.  I don't think I could have done it IN MY CIRCUMSTANCES for something like nursing, but I also worked as a CNA for a brief time and it was very clear the medical field is definitely NOT for me.   I'm not much of a people person.  

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So yeah…nursing.  I actually started the science coursework years ago.  Then when I went to apply, I had to have titers done and found out that I am a vaccine non responder to chicken pox and measles.  They wouldn’t accept me because I couldn’t get the whole series in time to start, and I decided to pivot towards special education teaching.  I finished master’s degree, with no certification since I couldn’t student teach due to Covid, but honestly I am so disillusioned with the education system I don’t think I want to do that.  I can teach EMT and paramedic class now and be perfectly happy with that.

DH started nursing school this year and I was ridiculously, irrationally angry about it. So angry.  To the point he encouraged me to talk to a counselor, who said, you’re angry because you wanted to be a nurse and felt like the door was closed.  Then someone here(maybe Katie?) mentioned that we might have an antibody autoimmune disorder in my family since some of us are vaccine nonresponders. I called the nursing school I’d attend next year and asked if that would exempt me if the titers come back negative again and they said yes, as long as I can prove I’ve done the vaccinations again.  So my doctor is working on that diagnosis and I’m re-vaccinating.

I don’t know. I feel so dumb after just finishing my M.Ed.   And the time commitment of nursing school is ridiculous.  I would only have nursing classes and clinical though; everything else for the degree, including the sciences, is done now.  I now have a small inheritance that would cover the RN associates degree, and a guaranteed job in the ER. Oldest DS11 may wind up homeschooled again if our new school district doesn’t get their s$it together about his placement; but he’s honestly my easiest child in most ways now and having him home wouldn’t be an issue.

I have a year to decide but I don’t know. Decisions are hard. 

Edited by Mrs Tiggywinkle
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I started my PhD classes at age 36 with a 2 year old and a 2 month old. I had a lot of family support.  I got some free lunches out of the deal because the admissions office sent me to lunch with prospective students who were worried about balancing family and coursework.  
 

Also you can sing anything, including Heidegger’s Being and Time to the tune of “Piano Lesson” from The Music Man.

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42 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

So yeah…nursing.  I actually started the science coursework years ago.  Then when I went to apply, I had to have titers done and found out that I am a vaccine non responder to chicken pox and measles.  They wouldn’t accept me because I couldn’t get the whole series in time to start, and I decided to pivot towards special education teaching.  I finished master’s degree, with no certification since I couldn’t student teach due to Covid, but honestly I am so disillusioned with the education system I don’t think I want to do that.  I can teach EMT and paramedic class now and be perfectly happy with that.

DH started nursing school this year and I was ridiculously, irrationally angry about it. So angry.  To the point he encouraged me to talk to a counselor, who said, you’re angry because you wanted to be a nurse and felt like the door was closed.  Then someone here(maybe Katie?) mentioned that we might have an antibody autoimmune disorder in my family since some of us are vaccine nonresponders. I called the nursing school I’d attend next year and asked if that would exempt me if the titers come back negative again and they said yes, as long as I can prove I’ve done the vaccinations again.  So my doctor is working on that diagnosis and I’m re-vaccinating.

I don’t know. I feel so dumb after just finishing my M.Ed.   And the time commitment of nursing school is ridiculous.  I would only have nursing classes and clinical though; everything else for the degree, including the sciences, is done now.  I now have a small inheritance that would cover the RN associates degree, and a guaranteed job in the ER. Oldest DS11 may wind up homeschooled again if our new school district doesn’t get their s$it together about his placement; but he’s honestly my easiest child in most ways now and having him home wouldn’t be an issue.

I have a year to decide but I don’t know. Decisions are hard. 

Ok, I may get flamed for this, but I’m going to be the lone dissenter.

I don’t think you should do it, at least not until your kids are a little older. You do a wonderful job with your children, but they are not the easiest to manage and you often seem very stressed over things like their education and managing childcare for them. Doing your masters while working was very hard on you, and nursing school is going to be far more demanding. 

I’m not saying you should never do it. I’m just suggesting that you wait a while longer. Also, I know you are very excited about nursing right now, but you were also very excited about getting your masters degree, and now that you have it, you didn’t seem satisfied and you seem ready to move on to something new awfully quickly. Are you 100% sure you really want to be a nurse, or might it be that you are mainly looking for a new challenge? 

I’m sorry to sound discouraging, and I really hesitated to post this, but I have seen how stressed you’ve been for quite a while now, and adding nursing school to your already very full plate might not be the wisest thing to do right now. 

Obviously, feel free to prove me wrong, because I absolutely could be totally off-base here!  🙂 

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3 hours ago, PeterPan said:

I know multiple women who've done it as their kids got within the last 4-5 years. I know some who jumped ship homeschooling early to do it. And really I don't think those moms had regrets. 

I'm thinking about it pretty hard myself. My trouble is both my nature (I'm not sure how compatible my social skills and personality are with employment) and the pay. Things that pay enough to motivate me take a while to get the coursework for. I'm at that window/age where I feel like I need to make a decision in the next two years if I'm going to do it.

Did you say you're pursuing nursing? Someone told me I'd be no good at it, but I thought that dialysis nurse gig would fit me just fine. I know nothing about it, lol. It seems like many people go into education after homeschooling, so I was looking at a master's in special ed like someone else here just said she did. I've done so much with my ds, it would be logical. What I don't know is whether I'd hit a point where I'd just want to do something DIFFERENT. 

I think in your case you're organized enough that really the limiting factor will be how well your kids' school placements are working out. Were you considering going full time or part time? 

What happens if your dh decides he wants to become a nurse practitioner? I have no clue, just throwing that out there. If he's snappy intelligent, I wouldn't be shocked if that's his next ask. It could bump his pay enough you wouldn't need to do the nursing thing. Then it would be your pleasure, and maybe your pleasure would be something else?

I would have 2 hours of class twice a week, one five hour lab and one 8 hour clinical.  The clinical can be divided into two four hour sessions. All of it could be done while the kids are at school.

DH won’t go onto NP.  He hates school with a passion. He won’t be able to do the physical demands of EMS forever due to a permanent shoulder injury and nursing school, which was cleared by his orthopedist, is part of the job refraining he was awarded by workers comp

 

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3 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

Ok, I may get flamed for this, but I’m going to be the lone dissenter.

I don’t think you should do it, at least not until your kids are a little older. You do a wonderful job with your children, but they are not the easiest to manage and you often seem very stressed over things like their education and managing childcare for them. Doing your masters while working was very hard on you, and nursing school is going to be far more demanding. 

I’m not saying you should never do it. I’m just suggesting that you wait a while longer. Also, I know you are very excited about nursing right now, but you were also very excited about getting your masters degree, and now that you have it, you didn’t seem satisfied and you seem ready to move on to something new awfully quickly. Are you 100% sure you really want to be a nurse, or might it be that you are mainly looking for a new challenge? 

I’m sorry to sound discouraging, and I really hesitated to post this, but I have seen how stressed you’ve been for quite a while now, and adding nursing school to your already very full plate might not be the wisest thing to do right now. 

Obviously, feel free to prove me wrong, because I absolutely could be totally off-base here!  🙂 

Nah I’ve considered all of that. I think if I could have gotten my teaching certification I would have taught for 20 years and been fine.  But our area has handled Covid so badly that I just don’t want to be a part of the educational system.  I was going to sub but our new district pays less than $100 per day for substitutes regardless of degree status. 

When I find a new career, it has to be overnights.  I’ve found I hate working from home, and overnights are my best time to work due to childcare.  But that really limits decent paying options. 

I have a year to decide. If I decide not too, I probably won’t go back to school later on.  I really have no desire to switch careers at 50.

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3 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

I’m sorry to sound discouraging, and I really hesitated to post this, but I have seen how stressed you’ve been for quite a while now, and adding nursing school to your already very full plate might not be the wisest thing to do right now. 

And op can evaluate for herself, but sometimes for me wanting to go into something is a way of running from stress. 

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Just now, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

But our area has handled Covid so badly that I just don’t want to be a part of the educational system.

Could you throw in on a BCBA certification and work daytime hours, less hours more money? Or student teach and then farm yourself out by the hour? 

It seems pretty b&w to say the ONLY WAY to use that MEd would be in the school system. 

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5 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

I would have 2 hours of class twice a week, one five hour lab and one 8 hour clinical.  The clinical can be divided into two four hour sessions. All of it could be done while the kids are at school.

Oh my. So 3-4 days a week at least. How long would this stage last? Is it like a 1 year RN program or is this multiple years?

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  • Mrs Tiggywinkle changed the title to S/O returning to school in midlife?
9 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Oh my. So 3-4 days a week at least. How long would this stage last? Is it like a 1 year RN program or is this multiple years?

2 year associates degree.  It can be done in two days a week if they’re really full days(lab/class/clinical x2 a week). I’d do it in 3 if I got the clinical scheduled right.

for right now and maybe even forever, we could probably afford for me Not to work much, but in the event DH’s shoulder renders him unable to do any kind of work I need a solid backup plan.  Disability pays crap.  
I couldn’t even start school for a year. I’d just ruled it out due to the vaccine titers and was surprised to find out it was still an option.  But I have plenty of time to watch how DH’s year goes and see if it’s worthwhile for me or not.  

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44 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

How do you have time to do this AND the classes and homeschool? 

And don't forget waste time on here! 😂 Short answer, I don't sleep, lol, because it's not only this: it's book club and sports and scouting and talks and small group teaching and...........I'm the only parent on duty for entire days half the week.  There are some days where a Zoom class might see the inside of my car or the back of the rink.

For real, though, I think it's a personality thing. Ds11 really likes schedules, and during the school year I have to be SUPER scheduled to fit everything in.  So he schools Sun-Wednesday, 8:30-2:30/3, with his Thursday being set aside for activities only.  Every week I print out a lesson plan.  We go over each item together so on days I am out of the house there are items starred.  Those are the ones he should do independently and be prepared for the discussion/activity when I get back.  Two days a week I tutor outside the home: Tues/Thurs, but my one family that I work with is very encouraging and willing to shift days/times when my schedule needs reworking.  And Dh works the late shift on Tues so he's home with ds.  But every smidge of my life is planned out, every item I need is set aside during the summer when I have more time.  I had an entire 6 weeks after I finished summer session for myself (2 condensed classes) where I could gather all the resources I need (there are bags labeled things like "acceleration labs: need car" to remind me to grab 1-2 things from ds's room).   My entire life has to run like clockwork for 12 weeks before it goes to a new cycle of classes and activity schedules.  A few weeks ago I was in a speech class where the professor was scatterbrained.  It raised my stress level so high because her lack of planning meant that my schedule was constantly being rearranged.

FWIW, all the skills talked about in WTM are really worth cultivating.  I spent so many years helping oldest ds with his executive function skills and working our way through the skill sets in the WTM, that I've developed very effective ways to study and take in information myself.  Writing papers, after going through the progymnasmata, are so much easier.  I would not have done nearly in well in classes before schooling my kids at home, because K-12 was incredibly easy for me and I didn't learn how to study.

And right now - classes start the week of the 7th, I'm on a few weeks' break from tutoring, and ds has this week off from activities except violin.  It feels absolutely glorious. 🙂 

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1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

Could you throw in on a BCBA certification and work daytime hours, less hours more money? Or student teach and then farm yourself out by the hour? 

It seems pretty b&w to say the ONLY WAY to use that MEd would be in the school system. 

In an urban area there would be lots of opportunities,  but I’m so rural that there aren’t tutoring centers etc.  and the local autism community is very against ABA in any form, so none of the schools hire BCBAs anymore. I think one of the local disability group homes do.

there are only two nursing programs in traveling distance. One is an AS community college and one is a four year BSN. No one year accelerated programs.

As I said, I have a year to decide lol.  I’m just researching opportunities because working 24 hour shifts is getting old.

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1 hour ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

I think if I could have gotten my teaching certification I would have taught for 20 years and been fine.  But our area has handled Covid so badly that I just don’t want to be a part of the educational system.  I was going to sub but our new district pays less than $100 per day for substitutes regardless of degree status. 

If the teaching aspect is fine, have you considered teaching and tutoring independently? The money can be really good and demand is high on evenings and weekends.   You can do a mix of in-person and online. Online, you can do a mix of independent and platforms like Zoom  Outschool, and potential hours are longer because of time zones. I don't recall if any of your kids are still homeschooling, but, even if not, in-person classes can be geared around something your own kids can benefit from. Afterschool homework groups are fairly popular around here; kids go to the tutor after school and get their homework done in a group setting before their parents get off work. It's not full tutoring but the tutor keeps them on track and will answer questions. ACT and SAT prep are somewhat boring but definitely money in the bank. 

Nursing is hard on the body and such a high-injury career. It's not something I personally would have wanted to pursue at 40+, and it takes a good few years to get into administration. I also think you'll likely be disappointed with the way the medical field has handled Covid (administration, not workers). This pandemic may be over before you finish school, but the underlying problems of nurses being stretched way too thin was an existing problem, and not being prepared for emergencies and the unexpected was an existing problem. 

I'd also definitely think long and hard about staying put. Didn't you land that job you wanted a while back, or did that not work out? It sounded really promising, but I may be behind the times on what happened. It usually sounds like you enjoy the actual work of what you do, just not always the environment or the admin, but that is common at almost every job. I think many fields have that phase where it's kind of a grind for a while, but you have to stick that part out to get to the next phase and new levels of opportunity. 

Edited by katilac
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1 hour ago, katilac said:

If the teaching aspect is fine, have you considered teaching and tutoring independently? The money can be really good and demand is high on evenings and weekends.   You can do a mix of in-person and online. Online, you can do a mix of independent and platforms like Zoom  Outschool, and potential hours are longer because of time zones. I don't recall if any of your kids are still homeschooling, but, even if not, in-person classes can be geared around something your own kids can benefit from. Afterschool homework groups are fairly popular around here; kids go to the tutor after school and get their homework done in a group setting before their parents get off work. It's not full tutoring but the tutor keeps them on track and will answer questions. ACT and SAT prep are somewhat boring but definitely money in the bank. 

Nursing is hard on the body and such a high-injury career. It's not something I personally would have wanted to pursue at 40+, and it takes a good few years to get into administration. I also think you'll likely be disappointed with the way the medical field has handled Covid (administration, not workers). This pandemic may be over before you finish school, but the underlying problems of nurses being stretched way too thin was an existing problem, and not being prepared for emergencies and the unexpected was an existing problem. 

I'd also definitely think long and hard about staying put. Didn't you land that job you wanted a while back, or did that not work out? It sounded really promising, but I may be behind the times on what happened. It usually sounds like you enjoy the actual work of what you do, just not always the environment or the admin, but that is common at almost every job. I think many fields have that phase where it's kind of a grind for a while, but you have to stick that part out to get to the next phase and new levels of opportunity. 

I had a great job briefly early in the summer doing parent education and supervised visitation. I loved it, loved my supervisor, loved my coworkers. But HR had not been very truthful with my supervisor about my limitations—they only wanted to pay me $14 and so I could only work about 10 hours a week when DH is home because it wasn’t enough to pay a babysitter.  I quit after three weeks because it was obvious they really, really needed a full time person and HR had thought they’d be able to convince me to stay.  I understand it’s grant funded but I can’t work for $14 an hour.

the problem is that I love working two or three days a week, but I hate working 24s.  I’d absolutely LOVE a job that was three 12s a week. I also really love taking care of patients, but the combination of a totally dead end position and the busy 24s is getting old.  DH suggested I work In the local ER  part time for a while to see what I think, which is a good idea. The nurse manager loves me and would hire me on the spot for an ED tech position.   I’ve been at my current place of employment for 10 years and while I’ve had plenty of pay raises, not one promotion, additional responsibilities, nothing like that.  It isn’t me; I just don’t have the right genitalia or last name.  Our current owner is retiring in two years and giving the company to his daughter and SIL, and I predict lots of disaster with this.  So why I’m looking instead of just grinding it out.

I’m on a lot of the Outschool teacher FB pages and such.  It seems that with VIPkid and other virtual ESL programs no longer allowed in China, places like Outschool have too many teachers now and people are having a hard time getting students.

My main goals are to work a couple days a week, take care of patients like I’ve been doing, and make enough money to pay for childcare—and stay doing something that can support my family financially and with insurance if my husband’s shoulder finally blows out.  

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4 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

I had a great job briefly early in the summer doing parent education and supervised visitation. I loved it, loved my supervisor, loved my coworkers. But HR had not been very truthful with my supervisor about my limitations—they only wanted to pay me $14 and so I could only work about 10 hours a week when DH is home because it wasn’t enough to pay a babysitter.  I quit after three weeks because it was obvious they really, really needed a full time person and HR had thought they’d be able to convince me to stay.  I understand it’s grant funded but I can’t work for $14 an hour.

Ugh, how annoying. They should realize that liking the job doesn't mean you can work for that amount of money!

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I’m 39 and starting grad school on Monday. I am SO excited! It’s a great fit for me - something that allows me to work with numbers yet still be a part of a team. I am 100% introvert and think I found my calling.

If you want to, have the energy, and your dh is supportive, I say go for it! 

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1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

With an MEd??? That's literally a starting wage at Target here.

Yes—I haven’t been offered anything in that line of work that is more than I could make walking into Arby’s or Walmart here. 
Nursing can’t be done online.  Some of the sciences and almost all of the non-nursing classes can be, but I already have taken those.  I don’t have any classes other than the nursing classes left.

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7 minutes ago, AnniePoo said:

I’m 39 and starting grad school on Monday. I am SO excited! It’s a great fit for me - something that allows me to work with numbers yet still be a part of a team. I am 100% introvert and think I found my calling.

If you want to, have the energy, and your dh is supportive, I say go for it! 

CONGRATULATIONS 🎊🎉🎈 and good luck in grad school!!!

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5 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

I had a great job briefly early in the summer doing parent education and supervised visitation. I loved it, loved my supervisor, loved my coworkers. But HR had not been very truthful with my supervisor about my limitations—they only wanted to pay me $14 and so I could only work about 10 hours a week when DH is home because it wasn’t enough to pay a babysitter.  I quit after three weeks because it was obvious they really, really needed a full time person and HR had thought they’d be able to convince me to stay.  I understand it’s grant funded but I can’t work for $14 an hour.

the problem is that I love working two or three days a week, but I hate working 24s.  I’d absolutely LOVE a job that was three 12s a week. I also really love taking care of patients, but the combination of a totally dead end position and the busy 24s is getting old.  DH suggested I work In the local ER  part time for a while to see what I think, which is a good idea. The nurse manager loves me and would hire me on the spot for an ED tech position.   I’ve been at my current place of employment for 10 years and while I’ve had plenty of pay raises, not one promotion, additional responsibilities, nothing like that.  It isn’t me; I just don’t have the right genitalia or last name.  Our current owner is retiring in two years and giving the company to his daughter and SIL, and I predict lots of disaster with this.  So why I’m looking instead of just grinding it out.

I’m on a lot of the Outschool teacher FB pages and such.  It seems that with VIPkid and other virtual ESL programs no longer allowed in China, places like Outschool have too many teachers now and people are having a hard time getting students.

My main goals are to work a couple days a week, take care of patients like I’ve been doing, and make enough money to pay for childcare—and stay doing something that can support my family financially and with insurance if my husband’s shoulder finally blows out.  

Do you think the daughter will be more amenable to promoting women within your current company once she takes over? It sounds like the current owner is pretty sexist, but with a woman at the helm, things might be different.  Do you know her very well? Do you get along with her?

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be looking for other options, but if there’s a chance that the new owner might mean more opportunities for you within your current company, it might be worth keeping it as an option.

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1 minute ago, Catwoman said:

Do you think the daughter will be more amenable to promoting women within your current company once she takes over? It sounds like the current owner is pretty sexist, but with a woman at the helm, things might be different.  Do you know her very well? Do you get along with her?

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be looking for other options, but if there’s a chance that the new owner might mean more opportunities for you within your current company, it might be worth keeping it as an option.

I’ve known her my whole life. No, she won’t be more amenable to promoting women. If anything she’s of the idea that women really don’t have a place in EMS. Basically it will be her rather unstable husband running the company. I expect them to sell it to a large national corporation with five years of taking over.  My other local option is to become a flight medic, but the helicopter company in driving distance requires people to become double paramedic/RN within a few years of hire anyway.  
If my job would develop their employees and be more willing to consider 12 vs 24 hour shifts, I’d absolutely stay there forever.  The pay and flexibility is great.  I mean, they give parents paid time off on the first day of school and have never blinked an eye when I needed a shift off last minute for family reasons.  It’s just dead end. 

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On 8/28/2021 at 12:29 PM, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

we might have an antibody autoimmune disorder in my family since some of us are vaccine nonresponders.

Mind if I resurrect your thread and ask more about this? Did you happen to run genetics on this? 

I'm looking for info to predict how ds might react to the covid vaccine and I found this study which suggests an IgG issue is common in autism  or that people with autism tend to be more resistant to covid for some other reason. They were finding rates of infection in the autism community were HALF that of their workers/service providers. Now it could be just natural autism social distancing, hahaha, but I did wonder given your mention of not making antibodies. If we could pinpoint the gene, then we could predict whether the vaccine is even worth it. 

 

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