So it is Christmas eve and I have decided to give a recap of my year before starting work (yes, I have a job, will expand on that later).
This year began very disappointingly. I had failed my road test for a driver’s license twice, and I was in my last quarter of year one of two in the M.S in Communication-Technical Writing program. I also had quite a few phone interviews for technical writing positions that went nowhere.
In March I passed the road test on my third try and there was a bit of glimmer of hope. My parents were thinking of moving back to New Jersey where we previously lived eight years ago before we moved to this hell hole in 2006. I then turned my attention towards applying for jobs in NYC/Northern NJ area but didn’t get a single reply.
At this point I was in a dark place, I had graduated college a year ago and still hadn’t gotten a job and my mom didn’t get any good replies from jobs she had applied for in NJ so I had to live with the fact that I was stuck in this hell-hole.
But then in August I started to revisit the career I originally wanted; teaching. If you scroll down my blog some you will read that I had my teaching aspirations derailed due to the Praxis I Math. After that I completely gave up on the idea of teaching post-college graduation but a year later I started to reconsider it.
I started toying with the idea of teaching overseas. Originally I started looking at positions in countries in the Arabian peninsula (Saudi, Qatar, UAE, etc) because they paid well enough for me to pay off my student loans but I realized that I didn’t have the full qualifications. 2+ years of experiences seemed to be the benchmark in all these countries. In addition a Masters in ESL was also considered good to have.
I then wrestled with the idea of switching graduate programs but my current school didn’t have it plus classes would be starting in a month. After further research I discovered Concordia University-Portland’s M.Ed in Curriculum & Instruction: ESOL program. I signed up for more information and received an email from an enrollment counselor asking for a good time to speak to me. When I first answered her call I was quite nervous but I was put at ease after we went over the program, and I asked her questions. Everything sounded great. All I needed to do was talk to my parents about making this switch.
I nervously sat my parents down and talked to them about it and they agreed with my decision and saw where I was coming from. So now I am in class 3 of 11 of this program and I am doing extremely well. I will be finished in November of next year. But wait! There is more! I am currently an applicant for an accelerated alternative teaching certification in Texas for Spring of 2016. No word yet of if I have been accepted since I applied two weeks ago but I have high hopes that I will be accepted.
It is five online classes then a year of student teaching internship in a classroom, fully paid with benefits. Very affordable too.This means I would have to move to Texas but I actually do not mind this. This is the only way I can get out of this hellhole called Pennsylvania plus Texas seems much nicer; better weather and cost of living.
Overall 2014 has been full of twist and turns but I am happy with how my life is progressing and I just know 2015 will bring me more *crosses fingers*
Also back to the job bit at the end. Yes I now have a job. It is basically doing at-home answering customer service calls for a particular company. I started training in October and right now I am in week four or five (can’t remember) of on the job training. The final stage will begin in mid-January and so far I have gotten good feedback on my performance from my coaches and mentors. I hope to keep the job long enough to save up for this teacher certification program, and a move to Texas. I also hope to save enough to get LASIK eye correction surgery.
Also in addition I should have my own car next month.
La Reina Africana 