Jenerally Speaking

Okay, so anyone who knows me, knows that I have been in college a really really long time.  It’s like a mini-addiction.  My college mug collection is quite impressive, I tell you!

I started at Kutztown University in 1992 for a degree in Elementary Education.  I left Kutztown a year later to have my daughter.  (Surprise!)  So much for the straight-laced, innocent Christian girl….oh well.  Life is full of surprises…mine was a blessing in disguise, of course.  I adore my oopsie-baby!

Anyway, I went back to college in 1996 and began a degree in medical technology at the University of Scranton.  While I loved the idea of teaching, I also really enjoyed the medical field, so I decided to give that a try.

After my first semester at U of Scranton, I switched to a different field and ended up getting a 1 year certificate in legal studies to be a paralegal.   (My reasons for leaving the medical technology field are entirely silly and I can’t even bring myself to reveal what they are.)

After receiving my certificate and realizing I wasn’t entirely qualified to work as a paralegal just yet, I went back to school (at Marywood College) to get a 2-year degree in legal studies.

I graduated and entered the legal workforce in 2000.  Well, the workforce in my area really stinks.  Instead of doing all the legal research I loved to do and drafting all those legal documents I was trained to draft, I found myself employed by a law office as a secretary.

I answered phones and typed letters.  They never trained us to do that.  I was a good legal researcher and an excellent paralegal, but I am a terrible secretary.
Basically, the town in which I live is too small and my employer only needed one employee.  I hardly didn’t anything related to law at all.  I mean, I filed law papers – into her filing cabinet.  I answered the phone and talked to lawyers and other paralegals.  Real paralegals.  But, I was most certainly not a paralegal.  Anyway, the pay was pretty poor, too.  Ten dollars an hour with no benefits.  There was no way I would be able to support my daughter and myself with that salary.  Soooo, mom came up with an amazing offer.  I keep living at home and work toward the degree I really wanted in the first place.  A teaching degree.  I left work in 2001 to get started on my next degree.

I found my way to Columbia Union College in Maryland.  I was able to transfer all my (many!) credits to CUC and only had to finish up 10 classes to receive my 4-year degree.  All the work is done at home and I would receive my degree as though I actually attended their campus.  Accredited and amazing.  After that, I would jump right into Graduate school to get my post-baccalaureate teaching certificate and I would finally be a teacher.

Unfortunately, my panic/anxiety disorder was full-blown by that point.  I lost a few years as I worked with the doctors to get it under control.  It’s incredibly frustrating to have a disorder that is so debilitating and yet sounds so lame.  “Just try not to get so anxious all the time.” If it were only that simple.

So, it is now 2009 and I need to finish the last 3 classes of those 10 classes I started in 2001.  I wasn’t kidding when I said I lost a few years.  Over these past 8 years, I worked on my classes when I could and I also worked at a few daycares and preschools when I was well, but for the most part, my life has revolved around my health.

So, are my plans still the same?  Get my bachelor’s degree and become a teacher?  Well, not quite.  This road to health actually led me to a slightly different career path.  When I complete this degree, I will now be pursuing my goal to become a registered dietician.  How I got to this point is a whole other story, but I am truly excited about this decision.  The way I see it is that I still get to teach, but it won’t be in the traditional classroom setting.  Not only that, but I get to teach about something I love and have always loved…health, body systems, nutrition, etc.  I feel like the puzzle pieces have finally fallen into place. I am just frustrated that it took me so long to get here.  Better late than never?  Oh gosh, I hope so.