It's funny how quickly time can get away from you.
Where to start...
Living back at home is actually better then I thought it would be. Go figure! Everything is very simple. Matt has fallen back into the working fulltime thing very comfortably. He enjoys it and that is fantastic. He has really been "rocking out" at his job as well. He was told recently that he should expect a promotion before the new year!
As for me... things are as complicated as ever. I actually took a job as a Research Assistant at the Atlanta Center for Medical Research. I negotiated my salary and all. After working there about four hours I could tell that I had made yet another huge mistake. This job was not at all what I had expected... and to take it I had compromised my biggest deal breaker of them all -- it had a horrible commute. Needless to say I decided that I needed to quit that job while I still had the financial ability to do so an start being more selective about what I interview for etc. So the job search continues.
The good: I have not regretted dropping out of grad school for even a second. As bored as I am... and as much as getting a job scares me more than you can know... I have never gone there.
The better: Matt asked me to marry him on October 16th! I'll attach a photo of my fabulous ring. So you can expect a wedding planning blog to follow some time in the near future. <3 Matt
I'm not really sure how to begin this comment, so I'll dive right in:
ReplyDeleteI finished my undergrad in psychology from a midwestern state school in 2009. I graduated with honors and went straight to work in case management and child/family services despite the uproar from my professors and current grad students that I MUST pursue a graduate degree IMMEDIATELY following my degree program in order to be successful. I was convinced that I needed the real world experience, though, and I decided that there was no better way to gain it than to work under the people that I would like to join as colleagues someday.
In the end, the experience left me very disheartened and confused about my career path. It's a long story that I'd be happy to share with you if you're interested, but suffice it to say that the assumption that people in helping professions (especially social work or social services) are nurturing to their clients or honest and professional in their dealings is naive at best. Like you, I have moved back in with family, but I have done so in the pursuit of stable employment and getting into graduate school, not leaving it.
All told, I have only worked 1/2 of the time since finishing my degree. I have been unemployed for almost a year and have little hope that I'll find work, let alone something that I feel is engaging or impactful. To be honest, I'm not even sure what I believe to be engaging or impactful anymore. While I'm still "networking" (i.e. LinkedIn and the occasional meeting with a career services coach from my alma mater), I have been inching closer and closer to graduate school. I'd like to study school psychology, but I know that I'm not as informed about the field as I could be and my decision is really a "grass is greener" sort of thing after working with folks suffering from severe mental illness and addiction issues. In an attempt to learn more about the field, I went to the high school I graduated from and met with a counselor there. She wasn't much help since she had finished her degree in the 1980's and is basically filling a desk until she can claim her retirement. I'm still not sure what the next step is.
What would you suggest? Is there something I'm missing or is this something that just requires a leap of faith? What were some sources of information you used in choosing a school? What was the final straw when you decided to leave? What exactly made you feel like you were incompatible with grad school?
I can only hope that you still follow this blog and could offer some insight.
As for the "one day at a time" thing, you should sit in on a local AA meeting and find the person with the longest and most succesful stretch of sobriety. Those guys wrote the book on "one day at a time".
P.S. I have an addictions counseling license and STILL can't break into the field. It's tough out there. Hope you have found a workplace and occupation that fit well with you and your lifestyle.