Week 1 Resolution
Decisions. Is there really anything more terrifying than making a decision? I'm not talking about decisions about what to eat for lunch, or if you should get a pedicure after work (though for some people even those decisions can be terrifying). I'm talking about decisions that could, and probably will, change you as a person. Life altering decisions are usually difficult journeys that we purposely put ourselves through because we feel the end goal is worth the struggle. A couple of years ago, I made a decision that could possibly be life changing, providing that I could pull it off.
Towards the beginning of 2017, I found myself feeling unfulfilled. I was hitting the ten year mark at my job, and I still hadn't managed to get a promotion in all of that time. I had completely given up on the idea of getting a promotion because I was permanently stuck on graveyard. I was constantly sick, which meant that I called in a lot (hence the reason behind the lack of promotions), and when I wasn't sick I was just tired. The only way to get a promotion and/or get off graveyard was to improve my attendance, but when I tried I only managed to get sick again which just continued what seemed to be an endless cycle.
The lack of regard for their employees wasn't my only issue with the job. Being constantly surrounded by drug, drinking, and gambling addicts was getting to me. By working in a casino, wasn't I helping to enable a possible addiction for the sake of a paycheck? Watching people gamble away their child support and rent checks made me feel bad because I was part of the machine that feeds off of those addictions. What could I do though? My skill set would only land me in another customer service position (that most likely paid less) that would leave me feeling just as unfulfilled (if not more so) as my current position did.
My future, if I continued along this path, was looking very depressing and bleak. I needed more. I was worth more. What could I do though? A few years before, I had tried starting my own photography business, but that failed due to my lack of business sense and my lack of experience. I could have tried again, but I didn't really want to. I got more joy out of photography as a hobby. I honestly didn't know what to do about my situation. Luckily, a Facebook friend of mine posted a status update about how she was going back to school so that she could teach English overseas. The idea was very intriguing to me as I had never considered going back to school and teaching (I'm iffy about children) as a viable option for me. I was 35 years old, and I hadn't been in a classroom setting in five or six years. Did my age really matter though? What would my major be? How would I afford to go to university? How am I going to work full time and go to school? What is traffic going to Seattle be like? Is this taking on too much? Am I really going to use a degree? What do I even want to do?
I didn't have an answer to any of those questions, so I pondered over what the woman on Facebook had said about teaching English overseas. I had always wanted to travel, and teaching overseas would allow me to do that. I would get to go to countries that actually care about education, and I would possibly learn about other cultures while I was there. My major was journalism in community college, so it wouldn't be a stretch to change my major to English. I could legitimately do this, so I did it. I filled out the application to the University of Washington in February of 2017, and nervously waited for months to find out if I was accepted. The University of Washington only accepts 1500 transfer students, and in May of 2017 I found out that I was one of the 1500 accepted.
https://instagram.com/p/BTlOgKClLZw
I only went to school part time, and my job actually worked with me so that I could go to school (I managed to get off graveyard). Unfortunately, after a full year of kicking ass at university, I ran out of a way to pay. I was relying on student loans and my own savings the first year. The second year, I thought I had covered by a grant that the school gave me, but I needed to be a full time student to use that money (which I didn't actually learn until the last day of summer vacation). As a result, I couldn't go back to school for the 2018-2019 academic year. I wasn't going to let that get me down though. I made the decision to go through with this, so when the time came I reapplied to the University of Washington and I was accepted again. Classes start on Thursday (Sept. 26), and I couldn't be more thrilled.
Towards the beginning of 2017, I found myself feeling unfulfilled. I was hitting the ten year mark at my job, and I still hadn't managed to get a promotion in all of that time. I had completely given up on the idea of getting a promotion because I was permanently stuck on graveyard. I was constantly sick, which meant that I called in a lot (hence the reason behind the lack of promotions), and when I wasn't sick I was just tired. The only way to get a promotion and/or get off graveyard was to improve my attendance, but when I tried I only managed to get sick again which just continued what seemed to be an endless cycle.
The lack of regard for their employees wasn't my only issue with the job. Being constantly surrounded by drug, drinking, and gambling addicts was getting to me. By working in a casino, wasn't I helping to enable a possible addiction for the sake of a paycheck? Watching people gamble away their child support and rent checks made me feel bad because I was part of the machine that feeds off of those addictions. What could I do though? My skill set would only land me in another customer service position (that most likely paid less) that would leave me feeling just as unfulfilled (if not more so) as my current position did.
My future, if I continued along this path, was looking very depressing and bleak. I needed more. I was worth more. What could I do though? A few years before, I had tried starting my own photography business, but that failed due to my lack of business sense and my lack of experience. I could have tried again, but I didn't really want to. I got more joy out of photography as a hobby. I honestly didn't know what to do about my situation. Luckily, a Facebook friend of mine posted a status update about how she was going back to school so that she could teach English overseas. The idea was very intriguing to me as I had never considered going back to school and teaching (I'm iffy about children) as a viable option for me. I was 35 years old, and I hadn't been in a classroom setting in five or six years. Did my age really matter though? What would my major be? How would I afford to go to university? How am I going to work full time and go to school? What is traffic going to Seattle be like? Is this taking on too much? Am I really going to use a degree? What do I even want to do?
I didn't have an answer to any of those questions, so I pondered over what the woman on Facebook had said about teaching English overseas. I had always wanted to travel, and teaching overseas would allow me to do that. I would get to go to countries that actually care about education, and I would possibly learn about other cultures while I was there. My major was journalism in community college, so it wouldn't be a stretch to change my major to English. I could legitimately do this, so I did it. I filled out the application to the University of Washington in February of 2017, and nervously waited for months to find out if I was accepted. The University of Washington only accepts 1500 transfer students, and in May of 2017 I found out that I was one of the 1500 accepted.
https://instagram.com/p/BTlOgKClLZw
I only went to school part time, and my job actually worked with me so that I could go to school (I managed to get off graveyard). Unfortunately, after a full year of kicking ass at university, I ran out of a way to pay. I was relying on student loans and my own savings the first year. The second year, I thought I had covered by a grant that the school gave me, but I needed to be a full time student to use that money (which I didn't actually learn until the last day of summer vacation). As a result, I couldn't go back to school for the 2018-2019 academic year. I wasn't going to let that get me down though. I made the decision to go through with this, so when the time came I reapplied to the University of Washington and I was accepted again. Classes start on Thursday (Sept. 26), and I couldn't be more thrilled.