#mlwork

I went straight from undergrad into grad school without any break. I kept summer employment at my undergrad the summer after a graduated (that included housing) so when it came to going to grad school I moved straight from my college summer apartment to my grad school apartment. Most of the others in my Masters' cohort were fresh out of undergrad too.

For me, grad school was a secure next step (that also gave me two years until I had to start paying back my college loans). I also knew staying in a “student” headspace would likely help my academic performance as opposed to taking time off. One semester bled into the next. I was already used to 1x week classes since a big chunk of my communications classes were 1x week. What I was not used to was APA style writing and bibliographies, this was not part of my broadcast journalism curriculum. I pushed through my 42 credit masters in 4 semesters and when it came time for graduation in May 2007 I was DONE.

I also knew to continue on to a Ph.D. wasn’t going to be in the cards for me, for a whole host of reasons, particularly my concern about how long higher education as we know it will continue to exist. I had my sights set on getting to the “Director” level and seeing how that went. I’m closing out year 3 as a Director and at age almost 36 I know I don’t want to spend the next 30 years here. I also know higher education is not adapting quickly enough especially for Millenials like me that thrive off of flexibility. For the past 6 months or so as I forecast the end of my full-time higher education career I’ve spent a lot of think thinking about what’s next and what I can do now to help me get there. Taking “free” classes at a university where I’ve been employed has always been on the table, but I never took advantage of it.

Last year a colleague mentioned finished a certificate and it got me wondering what certificate programs the university I worked at offered. Pretty quickly I found the Nutrition Education certificate through the Health Studies department in the College of Arts and Sciences. Coincidently this is also the department that I adjunct teach Urban Hiking through. I applied back in November, but it was too late for Spring admission. I knew there was a lot of red tape regarding tuition remission so I was pleased that my department chair reached out to talk through my interest in the program. The plan is to start with taking a Nutrition course and a Behavior Changes for Health Promotion course in the fall then a Sports Nutrition class in the spring. It sounds right up my alley.

I know I have a lot on my plate as it so, so making time for classes 2 nights a week in the fall plus homework is going to be a test. Fall thankfully in my quieter season so I’m hopeful. I think Summer is too busy for me to spread a class over Fall, Spring, Summer for the next two years. There are also financial implications. My tuition is “waived,” but I would need to pay taxes on the class for anything over 3 credits, which would be the tune of $5,250 for each additional class each calendar year. The certificate is 18 credits total. However, my department chair mentioned that if I was enjoying the certificate program I could add 12 more credits to round out an MS in Health Promotion Management. I’m not so sure about that, but it’s good to know I have options.

In January 1998, after the holidays I got my first job at my church’s Rectory, I was 14 and in 9th grade. I got the gig because at the time I was an altar server, one of the first female altar servers after a rule change in the Catholic Church thankyouverymuch. Now, I had sporadically babysat for a few years prior and continued to do so, but this was my first job on a payroll - making a whopping  $4.25/hr. I generally worked on Wednesdays from 4pm-7pm. Much of that time was spent listening to Z100 on the clock radio and doing homework. Oh and there was that one time that a funeral got scheduled, but I failed to write it down in all the like 5 places I was supposed to, so the family and funeral home showed up to a locked church...oooooooooopps. Thankfully it got worked out quickly and I didn't get fired due to my misstep.

Each subsequent year of high school I picked up an additional gig, summer after 10th grade I worked my first of 3 summers at a Day Camp near my house while keeping the Rectory job. I loved my summers as a Camp Counselor - I got a delicious free lunch every day, got to work on my tan, make new friends, and some of the male Counselors were babes. I also liked the kids, I worked with Kindergarten boys my first summer - they were my favorite. Then 1st grade girls and finally 6th grade girls. As a Counselor, we only got paid a small stipend, but tips at the end of the summer were awesome!

The summer prior to my Senior year of high school I picked up another job at CVS, which was right across from the Camp, so during the summer on days that I was working at CVS I’d walk across the street for a 4:30-9:30pm shift after an 8am-4pm day at Camp. I knew I had a good work ethic, but I also wanted to be away from my house as much as possible and the spending money was critical since by this time I was paying for most of my own clothes, school supplies, etc. By this time, summer 2000, the minimum wage has risen to $5.15/hr. I also l really loved my time at CVS, being on register and facing the shelves were my favorite. My coworkers were also a cast of characters which made working there entertaining. I was working at CVS was when “ExtraCare Card” launched, I wanna say February-March 2001. I still have my OG card.  While working there I ended up picking up some hours in the Pharmacy as a tech and went to a few weekend training for some “certifications.” I actually got paid a little more for the hours I worked in the Pharmacy which was great. Plus I really like Pharmacy too, well except for dealing with insurance companies, but nobody like them!

Even after I left for college I came back to work at CVS over my 5-6 week Winter break my freshman year. On New Years Eve 2001 (going into 2002) about an hour before the 6pm holiday closing the store was held up... at gunpoint... by a former employee... who I hugged only minutes before when I saw him in the store. I was actually in Pharmacy when the robbery happened, but my friend (an elementary school turned he friend who I got the job at CVS a year prior) was the one held up in the office when the robber slipped in behind her. I didn’t know we were robbed until after the fact, but needless to say my CVS career did not extend through whatever shifts I was scheduled to work the rest of Winter break. I actually was subpoenaed to testify at the Grand Jury trial months later which required me to get excused from college in CT to go to Long Island for a long weekend. Despite this blemish on my CVS experience, I am still a very loyal CVS customer.

I've earned 63 fit points thus far today from going to Body combat and Body pump this morning, walking the dogs that I'm sitting for, and 7.1 miles in my last urban hiking class.

Hi Friends,