Well, this is my last week at my internship, and at 1pm on Thursday it will be all over! I am excited to get started with my social work career, but sad to leave the place I've been working for the past nine months. I've also realized through my recent job search that it's really tough out there! The economy is bad, so it's really hard to find a job.
As I think about my recent struggles in this area, I think constantly about what I do have. I do have a job at Starbucks. Next week I start working exclusively at Starbucks, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm going to be working about 30-hours-per-week with three days off. This gives me a lot of free time to apply for jobs and go on interviews, exercise, work with my horses, spend time with Jake, and spend time with my friends. Sometimes I think that God wants me to spend some time on myself before I start working full-time.
In the past week I've had more fun than I have had in a very long time. I have been spending lots of time with Jake, seeing my friends, and meeting new people. Last Saturday was my last day of graduate school, and after class I had a "free day!" I went out to lunch with my classmates, chilled at Barnes & Noble, hung out at Courtney's apartment, and then went out for dinner and drinks with a new friend. I had so much fun that I forgot I was in my 30's with a 3-year-old at home. I didn't forget these things in a negative way...it was all positive!
Hmmm...maybe I should explain that last statement a little bit better! For the past four years I have felt the true stress of being a single parent. When I moved back in with my parents on June 21st 2006, I was five-months pregnant and feeling all alone. I had no friends, no job, no degree, and was moving back in with my parents at the age of 26. For the first month that it took me to get a job, I did a lot of thinking...
I thought about impending motherhood, my present life situation, and my future. I knew that I could not support myself and my son without a college degree. During the months up to my son's birth I thought about what I wanted to do with my life. I thought about my strengths and my past. I thought about the degrees that UW-Whitewater offered...I thought about Social Work. It was decided shortly after that...Social Work was going to be my ideal career.
January 2007, two months after Jake was born, it all started! I was now a single mother, full-time college student, and working part-time. It was hard, and got even harder when I started interning...working for free!!! Now that it is all finally coming to a close, I have some anxiety...I'm not going to lie. I do worry what it's going to be like when I'm completely done with this degree at the end of the week. I've been a student for so long that I don't know what it's like to not be a student. Only time will tell...
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Not being a student will be an adjustment, especially come fall when people are going back to school and we aren't. But, once you get used to it, you will love being able to really feel like an adult. For me that meant working, participating in community orgs., and having time to spend with friends or family.
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