Some of the blogs I follow also guest post on SpouseBuzz, so now I'm email subscribed to that too. How I'll ever keep up with all this reading I'll never know--actually, I do. The four hours of work three days a week in which I do nothing but answer the phone once in a while. Getting paid to read blogs is no different than getting paid to read a book. Or color, because I did that for a while too. Seriously, my job is boring--but I am extremely grateful to have one.
This article/blurb kind of struck a nerve with me. Not because it was poorly written or because it attacked anybody. But because I don't have a job that is an interest or passion of mine. I mean, I CAN have a job like that one day, but therein lies the rub.
( I honestly have no idea what is meant by "there's the rub", but I read it in a book and it sounded cool. Feel free to correct my usage!)
I have a degree in Criminal Justice from what is probably one of the worst universities in the union. The graduation rate for Parkside was something like 35%--because people either used it as a launchpad for the university they really wanted to go to, or because they failed out and never came back. My opinions on the closing of the university is an entire post in and of itself, however, suffice it to say that this piss-poor graduation rate doesn't help its case any.
I have several interests and or passions:
- paralegal (interest)
- dogs (interest AND passion)
- books (interest AND passion)
- helping veterans (interest, maybe passion?)
So far the only interest or passion my current job comes close to is the helping of veterans. The floor I work on houses the CVSO and an "assistant" (although the "assistant" has been here longer than the CVSO!). Greeting vets, telling them about my husband, asking about their service (which branch, any particular wars, etc), and getting them bus tickets to the VA center in Milwaukee is extremely rewarding. If Ax wasn't in the military maybe I'd not be so interested in helping veterans. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy helping others and solving problems, but without being placed in this particular situation with Ax, maybe it wouldn't mean as much to help them. Especially the homeless ones, which honestly breaks my heart every damn time.
With my CJ education (which is mostly a laughable joke at best) and strong clerical skills, paralegal would be an excellent choice of career for the rest of my working life. Problem is, I'd have to go back to school to be certified. I am so burnt out from school, papers, exams, lessons, etc. that the thought almost makes me sick.
I considered grad school for library science, but my grades are so godawful that I doubt anyone would accept me into a Master's program. I suppose for now, volunteering in a library would have to do. Forking over more money for a Master's doesn't exactly leave a good taste in my mouth either, haha.
That leaves dogs. I've watched the animal cops shows on Animal Planet, and while I would LOVE to do that...my cat allergies are too bad to go into hoarder situations. With the reactions my body has to cats, there is no possible way for me to just "work around it". If I worked in a shelter, I'd probably come home with a dog every week and then Ax would have no place to sleep when he'd have shore duty or leave. LOL
So I guess my choices for a career are paralegal or figure out how to get into the VA industry to help vets with paperwork, applications, and whatnots. Paralegal sounds like more money in the bank, but a job with the VA means helping more people. I decided that I'm getting paralegal certification no matter what I end up doing, because I can't go the rest of my life without learning. I'm just too burned out right now to get back into it. Maybe this time next year I can start some classes or something--I'll need stuff to keep me busy when Ax is playing in the ocean in his tin can. :P
Until something else comes along, I'll just keep pokin' around at work helping whoever I can, and when the local Greyhound rescue gets a haul of retired racers, I'll head down to the kennel and welcome some adorable gentle giants to a new home. Hopefully I can help find them some forever homes too. :)
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