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Blended Families
ambrvan
member
NBFR career/education input
ambrvan
member
I posted this on the Working Moms board, as well, but I wanted to put it here, too, since so many of you know me and I value all of your opinions so much. This is C&Ped from my post on the other board.
I am a lurker/occasional poster here. I stay mostly on the Blended Families board, but I need some input on some ideas I'm throwing around in my head from some other working moms who may have been here before. This may get long. Thanks in advance.
Quick backstory: I am 24. I have SD7 and DS3. I work full time as a surgery technician at a vet clinic. I am not a certified technician. I have several years of on the job training in multiple clinics behind me. I am currently taking classes part time at a 4yr university to get my BS in Agriculture, Concentration Animal Science, Specialty Veterinary Health Technology (which would allow me to sit for the board exam and become licensed). I am only take a class or two at a time right now, though, so that I can still work full time. I take what I can online, but there are some classes (the majority) that must be taken on campus during working hours, which I simply cannot do right now. The way things are right now with our financial situation and family, I can't see myself graduating any sooner than 4 or 5 more years (and that is stretching it since I attended college 2 years right out of high school, as well). And that is only IF I am able to quit working or drop down to part time next Fall. I was the sole provider for our family last school year while my H was in school, and it was a major financial struggle. He is contracted to work as an EMT for the ambulance service that paid for his school for 2 years before they will send him back to Paramedic school, which will take 3 semesters to complete.
So here are my options:
1) Continue pushing through what I am doing. Take a class or two at a time, and just wait until after DH has gone back and gotten his Paramedic license to drop my work hours and go to school full time to be able to finish. I worry this will waste too much money, though.
2) Try to get a job at the emergency vet clinic (a good distance away) working weekend nights only and go to school full time. I grew up with my mom being a single parent working weekend nights and it worked fine for us. I would really love to hear from others who have done or are working this schedule.
3) Look into sacrificing my dream career for something a little quicker and more financially stable, nursing. I could get my LPN quick and bridge to RN eventually. It would be a better financial choice. It would still be dealing with medicine, and I would have a very wide variety of job possibilities. And just to clarify for those who support one more than the other, in this rural area, LPN's happen to be more in demand because our local economy is fairly low and it is difficult for facilities to afford RNs or BSNs. Also, we do not have a whole lot of higher functioning facilities around here. And in this area, LPNs make a very good salary, in comparison to the usual you find around here. Of course, an RN makes more. But in this region, being an LPN is well worth it.
4) After this Spring semester is over, put school on hold again until DH has gone back to school and gotten his Paramedic license. That would mean I MIGHT be able to go back to school in 2016 or 2017 at the earliest.
I am just trying to pick the best route so that I am not wasting money, or time, or sacrificing time with my family. Thank you if you actually read this much.
I am a lurker/occasional poster here. I stay mostly on the Blended Families board, but I need some input on some ideas I'm throwing around in my head from some other working moms who may have been here before. This may get long. Thanks in advance.
Quick backstory: I am 24. I have SD7 and DS3. I work full time as a surgery technician at a vet clinic. I am not a certified technician. I have several years of on the job training in multiple clinics behind me. I am currently taking classes part time at a 4yr university to get my BS in Agriculture, Concentration Animal Science, Specialty Veterinary Health Technology (which would allow me to sit for the board exam and become licensed). I am only take a class or two at a time right now, though, so that I can still work full time. I take what I can online, but there are some classes (the majority) that must be taken on campus during working hours, which I simply cannot do right now. The way things are right now with our financial situation and family, I can't see myself graduating any sooner than 4 or 5 more years (and that is stretching it since I attended college 2 years right out of high school, as well). And that is only IF I am able to quit working or drop down to part time next Fall. I was the sole provider for our family last school year while my H was in school, and it was a major financial struggle. He is contracted to work as an EMT for the ambulance service that paid for his school for 2 years before they will send him back to Paramedic school, which will take 3 semesters to complete.
So here are my options:
1) Continue pushing through what I am doing. Take a class or two at a time, and just wait until after DH has gone back and gotten his Paramedic license to drop my work hours and go to school full time to be able to finish. I worry this will waste too much money, though.
2) Try to get a job at the emergency vet clinic (a good distance away) working weekend nights only and go to school full time. I grew up with my mom being a single parent working weekend nights and it worked fine for us. I would really love to hear from others who have done or are working this schedule.
3) Look into sacrificing my dream career for something a little quicker and more financially stable, nursing. I could get my LPN quick and bridge to RN eventually. It would be a better financial choice. It would still be dealing with medicine, and I would have a very wide variety of job possibilities. And just to clarify for those who support one more than the other, in this rural area, LPN's happen to be more in demand because our local economy is fairly low and it is difficult for facilities to afford RNs or BSNs. Also, we do not have a whole lot of higher functioning facilities around here. And in this area, LPNs make a very good salary, in comparison to the usual you find around here. Of course, an RN makes more. But in this region, being an LPN is well worth it.
4) After this Spring semester is over, put school on hold again until DH has gone back to school and gotten his Paramedic license. That would mean I MIGHT be able to go back to school in 2016 or 2017 at the earliest.
I am just trying to pick the best route so that I am not wasting money, or time, or sacrificing time with my family. Thank you if you actually read this much.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: NBFR career/education input
I will add that while I was in school I worked every single day that I wasn't in 8 hours of classes. It was HARD. I love what I do though, and it was worth all the tired days and money stresses. Granted, it was for significantly less time than what you are looking at.
And I do have to add that DH is being very supportive of me doing whatever I want however I want. He has offered to take on another full time EMT job to let me quit working and go to school, but I don't think that would help me much since his shifts are 24hrs. Right now I reply on him a lot to give me quiet study time and
I would be hard pressed to get the kids to school and then drive half an hour to school to get to class on time (certain cases I need are only offered at 8am). They would still have to go to daycare until 5:30. And then dinner, homework, bath, bed. I still wouldn't have any more time to devote to homework and studying than I do now. I'm not sure I could do it and do well.
Maybe I'm just scared and making excuses. Maybe I'm worried because after doing so well the last several months and having laid out a budget that allows for us to save for a vacation next year, all extra debt to be paid off by Spring, to finally buy Christmas presents without help, and to hopefully be shopping for a home next year... We are possibly about to lose our health insurance and in addition possibly going to come into another couple hundred dollars a month expense, all as of a letter we received yesterday to be decided mid November. Maybe that's what has me thinking over things.
I would do option 2 or 1. Just don't stop or put things on hold because degree requirements will change, your life circumstances will change and you deserve to work in your dream career.
I was raised that anything can be taken from you: your spouse could die, you could get a divorce, your parents could die and leave you nothing, you could lose all your money in a bad stock. The only thing no one can ever take away from you is your education. It is priceless. Even one class at a time gets you closer to what you want.
So I am actually in a very similar position, although I took a break from school when I got pregnant. I work as a vet tech at a veterinary college. I work a full time position overnight on the weekends. I am actually taking classes with San Juan community college to get my veterinary technology degree which will allow me to take my boards. They are online and they have clinicals which I perform at my job. When I started the program many of my college corsea transfered. This program allows me to work full time and also go to school. It is difficult but possible. I know a lot of people think an online program can not teach you as great as others however I can promise you it is extremely detailed and difficult.
I am in a bit of a different situation in that I am not sure I really want to stay in the field. I've been doing it since I was 14 so about 14 years now. I love animals but its hard that the field kind of limits where I can go and the income I can make. I want to do something to help people. The veterinary field is not where my heart is any more.
As someone almost double your age (yikes!), I would advise you against #3. I truly believe from seeing in my own life and in those around me, you and your family are better off if you follow your passion. And when I say "better off," - sooner or later the money catches up to people who are passionate about their work as well as happiness.
You really cannot predict the future, especially in terms of career. The nursing field could change, your kiddos could need you more or need you less, your H could switch carers. It is better to do what you love and have those options than to put your career dreams aside only to have the entire set of circumstances that made you switch change. That is when you become resentful.
Thanks for all of your input. I talked to my H this morning as soon as he got home from work. He has been thinking about it all night, as well. He said he would rather me not switch careers because he knows I wouldn't be happy doing anything else. And he is right. I am not really a people person. He is an EMT, my MIL is an LPN, and my mom is an RN. I simply don't have what they have to be able to work with people in that aspect. I would not be doing myself or patients in need any favors by trying to be something I am not.
We also talked about me working at the emergency clinic and decided that is probably not best, either. My current job is so good, I would be crazy to leave unless I was switching careers or moving. I was blessed when I found this job, honestly.
I think we have decided that when it is time for me to go strictly on campus, I will go down to PT at my current clinic (no problem where I work, but will require someone to replace me as surgery tech), and he will get a PT EMT job in another county picking up two or three 12 hour shifts in addition to his two or three 24 hour shifts at his current FT agency. He said for me to just let him know what I decide I want to do when I am ready.
I guess I just needed some motivation and uplifting.
And it's nice to know that DH is going to follow up on supporting me through this like I did him. I was honestly worried about that. Now it's a matter of, as someone else said, not putting myself on the back burner. I do that a lot because I just put everyone else first, not because everyone else pushes me there.