Being that there are a lot of unfortunate employment situations happening, I thought I would share a little into my journey from where I started to where I am now-it’s quite the story and very different from start to finish. After I finished grad school with an MA in Elementary Education in 1999 I started subbing and quickly received Kindergarten position at a small district in New Jersey. I worked there for about 2 years between that and subbing then moved back to Long Island to teach 6th grade. 9/11 happened, my son was born in 2002, daughter in 2006 and here is where things changed. I did some subbing and a leave replacement but mostly stayed home to be a mom (loved every minute) but never sat still. I babysat, sold things on eBay, wrote a course on how to sell online and traveled all over Long Island teaching at libraries-let’s just say I was resourceful! In the mix of all that, I went back to try to get my certification in special education so I could be more marketable when I went back to teaching.
Now its time for my daughter to go to kindergarten and me to get back to work. Problem #1: subbing became very competitive. Problem #2: my education cost them too much when a college grad was cheaper. Problem #3: babysitters cost money and after paying them and getting paid, not worth the effort. I did that for 2 years and there was no end in sight-I needed to work and make money.
One summer day after shopping for school supplies, I had plans to visit my sister and for some reason, my mind was changed and I drove a different way out of a parking lot then I was planning and there was the SIGN! Not the SIGN, like from above, but a NOW HIRING sign at a company I had never heard of. That night, I applied for 3 jobs that looked interesting, one that actually had the word teach in the description. I was called Monday morning, interviewed by phone Wednesday, in person Friday and hired Monday. The job: Health & Safety Specialist. Now if you told me I would be teaching forklift training, LO/TO, CPR, wearing a hardhat & safety shoes, I would never have believed you but this is me-Safety Sarah 2020! Kindergarten gone Safety.
My point is-don’t dismiss opportunity because you may not see the correlation or the value to your present situation. Stay focused on your goals and what will get you there. Ask yourself in all you do everyday, will this get me to my goal-whatever that may be. If it won’t, then put it aside for the time being. Don’t give up hope-network-connect-stay strong. Wherever you are, wherever you came from, whatever you bring to the table, put your best effort in everything and most importantly, you are not alone. Thanks for reading and please reach out if I can help in any way! #safetysarah