[nobe-l] finally decided, now I need a mentor

[Danielle Shives]

Hi Kayla,
I understand you wanting to get your education as soon as possible and feeling like you've wasted time. I'd like to share my own journey with education and employment. I attended college straight out of High School and got a degree in Elementary Education. Though a Bachelor's Degree is said to take 4 years, they can actually take longer than that, and I only got mine done in 4 because of taking many classes at once. Though I went to college thinking I wanted to teach elementary school, I was burned out by the time I got my degree and decided to take a semester off to rest and decide if I wanted to teach or continue my education and get a master's degree. I ended up doing a master's program in Special Education and thought that was what I was going to do. However, finding employment where I live has been difficult, and I only got called for a few interviews and never got hired as a special educator or an elementary school teacher, which I still apply for since I am still qualified to teach it. I got the master's degree 5 years ago this Spring and still have no job to show for it. Over time, i became interested in School Counseling but hesitated to do a program in it because there was not one close to where I live. However, this past Fall, my local college was approved for a school counseling program, and I jumped at the opportunity to do it. I still have another year left of the program following this one so will not be able to begin looking for jobs for another year and, if i get employed right after graduating, I will be 30 years old when I start work. While it has admittedly been frustrating to get all of this education and not yet be employed in the field, I have come to realize that all of the life experience I have been able to gain along the way and the time I have had to reflect on my past experiences have helped me be a better person and will ultimately help me be a better counselor or whatever I end up doing. i apologize for the long post, but I wanted to write to basically say that though we may have what we think is the best plan, things don't necessarily work out the way we thought; but that's not a bad thing. You are still very young and, though again I understand the desire to hurry up and get the education so you can get a job, I don't think that should be the deciding factor in what you do. The extra 2 years will be a good thing if they lead to something you really want to do. In my case, I thought 4 years of education would be all I would need to at least get me started with employment, but it didn't work out that way. I'm fine with that, though, because I see how everything I've done will ultimately help me, and I can use all of my education and life experience in whatever I do. I'm not sure what you've been doing that you call a waste of time (and I'm not asking you to share) but perhaps it will actually turn out to be time that helps you in some way be better prepared for your future career or at least to do better in some aspect of your life. For me, while I haven't been employed in education, I have had the opportunity to hold many leadership positions and take other roles in my church which have helped me improve my leadership, communication, and other skills which are a big help to me and will continue to be in whatever I do. Hope this helps in some way; again sorry for the length.
Danielle