The Part-Time Problem

I've been saying I was going to write this post for a while...and my brain is just done with teacher things for the moment so here it goes...

When I say I was going to write this a while ago...I mean I was going to write this before I had a full time job...because I was experiencing the part-time problem...

You get out of college...YAY I GRADUATED....you think...NOW I'M GOING TO GET A REAL JOB AND MOVE OUT OF MY MOM'S HOUSE AND BUY A CAR AND BUY MY OWN GROCERIES AND DECLARE MYSELF INDEPENDENT ON MY TAXES...and many more wonderful thoughts...

But the job market stinks
And you don't have enough money to move all of your belongings
or buy the car needed to move your belongings

so you move back in with mom...

there is no shame in this. You are not a failure because you have to move back in with mom...but you do need to be doing something with your life...

so you continue to apply for jobs and look for jobs and find something that relates moderately to your degree...COME ON THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING...but there really isn't...

so you go part time...those loans will need to be repaid eventually...and that phone bill needs to be paid now...sooo you start filling out part time applications...until one day it happens

you get an interview...

you are so overqualified for the job and yet (for some strange reason) still willing to work for minimum wage...that you get hired right then and there...YAY YOU'RE EMPLOYED...part time...at minimum wage...doing something a high schooler could do...

but you are grateful for this job...its just for now...right? ya, just for now.

You go to work.
You hate it.
You come home.
You research jobs that actually relate to your degree...

you get discouraged

Eventually you just stop looking for jobs...I've got this for now...just for now...and in the spring when the rest of the world graduates and people are actually looking for new grads I'll look for a job again...

you've become comfortable in the part time world...sure you hate your job, but you've convinced yourself that it is only temporary...even though every minute it feels more and more permanent...you feel more and more trapped...but it is ok...because you've got a degree...right? I mean, you'll get out of this somehow...

This is the problem...becoming comfortable...giving up...working part time...YOU HAVE A DEGREE...If you couldn't tell all of the you's ...refer to me...I did those things...I HAVE A DEGREE...and it was really dang hard to do anything with it...

It is discouraging to look for a job and that is a huge part of the problem...

People just get stuck...they feel like there is no way out so they do something they hate just to make not enough money to pay off the large sums of debt they've accrued during college...

do I have an answer? Nope definitely not...I cannot change the job market...nor do I have any money to give you to get you started...all I can say is this...

DON'T GIVE UP

I know it stinks to be turned down...but eventually you'll find a job...yup starting off is hard...you'll be pretty poor...I mean, I'm planning on eating Ramen for the rest of my life at this point...but it can be done...just keep looking...keep working...but keep looking...don't be comfortable...part time is not where you belong...keep trying...

My Grown Up Adventure

THIS POST IS LONG!

So many of you know I am on a big big giant adventure...from the northity north, to the southity south...and I know there are many of you who are wondering what the heck is going on in my life...well here we go...

Ok so at the beginning of June I hopped on a plane and moved to the south...I spent a week on a gorgeous college campus exploring my new home. I attended many events, business and social...AND I GOT HIRED! I have a big girl job now.

I am a resource room teacher for K-5 at a public elementary school...school starts mid August and I'm excited...yet nervous as most first year teachers are. I've seen my classroom and oh man the windows! I've got a room with a view!

After that week I spent five weeks in the boondocks of Mississippi teaching little children how to school.

I would walk around campus on a very hot day and smell pine needles...couldn't figure out where they were coming from though...until one day I looked down. The campus used pine needles as mulch! which both smelled great and made me think of my old bosses on the grounds crew!

I witnessed the Mosquito Truck...yes a truck that drives around campus at least twice a day spewing pesticides...gross...very gross...but it kept the annoying bugs to an average amount...except when it pushed them inside...I got more bites inside the cafeteria than I did anywhere else! It was insane!

Oh and the cafeteria...if you like fried chicken Mississippi is the place to go...fried chicken and pork was the basic food...yes, I did pretend to be a vegetarian a few times because the food was just different and it was nice to change it up a little.

By the end of my time there, I had gotten to the point where I thought that 88 degrees at sunset was a perfectly reasonable temperature for a run. I can run in high temperatures with pretty dang high humidity levels and not die...I've made it  up to a half hour of running! I haven't had time to run lately but I'm pretty excited about my progress thus far.

I traveled almost every weekend I was there. I went ...well I went to my old home...I went to Memphis, I went to other places in Mississippi, I went back to my new home to try and find a home, I went to Jackson Mississippi. In one week I saw the Mississippi River from three different states! It was such a cool experience.

It was a jam packed five weeks in Mississippi...but now I'm back to my new home...I am doing a bunch of paperwork, looking for an apartment and trying to buy a car...look at me guys! I'm a real adult...ok well I'm trying to be a real adult...I'm thankful for all the people helping me to do it!

I'm learning a lot about living in the South. I'm starting to remember to say yes ma'am and yes sir...and to expect to be called ma'am. What I consider the boondocks is actually the town...the country is further out...30 minutes is not a far drive anywhere...20 minutes is the perfect distance...I speak too fast, and should expect to have the longest small talk conversations I've ever had in my life...making eye contact on the sidewalk does not mean you want to fight...talking about God with perfect strangers is a normal thing...and many many more...

It certainly is an adventure, and I'm taking it one step at a time...wish me luck and pray for my journey!

When I Say "Homesick"

Hello, my name is Brittany and at the beginning of June I began making the largest transition of my life...

From North to South, from dependence to independence, from knowing lots of people to having to make brand new friends, from having a tried and true support system to forming a new one, from my church community to searching for a new church community, from post-grad working limbo to employed with a full time job that relates to what I studied, from being surrounded constantly with Catholics to being surrounded by people of various faiths and sometimes no religious affiliation, from a diverse area to an area where, yes, segregation is still a real issue, from the known to the unknown and unfamiliar.

When I say that I recently began feeling homesick, I don't necessarily mean I miss a particular place...I've realized that I now have very many homes away from home...

I don't really miss the house I just moved out of, I don't necessarily miss the many other houses I also consider to be part of my home...or my network of homes....

I MISS THE PEOPLE

I really do.

I miss my family. I miss my brothers staying up at the kitchen playing cards for pennies. I miss TV Tuesdays and Thursdays. I miss Saturday morning driving lessons and Dunkin trips with the oldest of my brothers (hope your driving is going well by the way!). I miss sharing stories with my parents. I miss sponsor/sponsee coffee dates with my brother. I miss my sister/bestfriend/mother of my Goddaughter/roommate and joking with her and telling stories, and spending time with her little family. I miss trips out with my other sister and my brother-in-law.

I miss my friends. I miss my friends from college, my household sisters, and especially my best friend. I didn't think I would be one of THOSE people attached to my college life...but I didn't really realize how great my support system was there until I went somewhere new without them. I miss spending time with them and hearing about their lives. I miss my best friend from high school. I miss being updated on her life, and just spending time together. I'm sorry our time reunited was so short and I hope you come to visit me soon!

I also just really miss having a community of people who share my faith; I miss Catholics. I am excited to embark on this new journey, and start working with a new youth group, but I do miss my old one. I miss people who understand why I believe what I believe. I miss conversations about my faith. I miss others being as excited for mass as I am. I miss talking about prayer. I miss people asking me to pray for them (although I did have one stranger in the laundry room ask for prayers which was SO EXCITING)....and I miss having people I can just ask for a quick prayer.

I don't miss places yet (surprisingly considering the ABSURD heat and humidity down here), but I do miss people. Lots and lots and lots of people. I guess it just goes to show you how big of an impact people have on our lives. I am thankful for the friends I am making down here, and I know I will miss them if one day we go separate ways.

So basically if you've ever been my friend ever...thank you and I miss you....and also treasure the relationships you have. Whether its family, friends, best friends, boyfriends, spouses...whatever the relationship...treasure it and know that having that relationship is a blessing and something to be cherished...

ok too mushy...I'm done now