I left my job working for a non-profit partnership at a community college that was a combination social service/higher education/research program. I was with that job for 3 1/2 years, was one of the first two Navigators who started the program, and worked closely with my students for a long time. Since it is an intensive case management program, I communicated with my case load of students every week, saw them multiple times a month, etc. I worked with some of the students for 3 years. I miss a lot of my students and wonder how they are doing. I also had two of the best co-workers (now I just call them friends) so it was bittersweet to leave. But honestly, it was my time to go for various reasons.
I am now working for a university and am no longer in intensive case management or social service. I am actually in student financial aid which is new territory for me. I did have some experience and familiarized myself with financial aid policies and procedures when I was still at the community college as all of our students were financial aid recipients. I am still, of course, learning and financial aid is constantly changing. More changes (and cuts to vital federal financial aid programs) are to come thanks to our delightful new President. I have been with the university in my new role for 2 months now. I am still getting used to the differences in this role compared to my last one. In my previous position, it was very metric-driven. We had weekly, bi-weekly, and 21 day metrics. We had to do a lot of tracking and reporting. I had very busy weeks and everything was pretty routine. In my current role, I may just have a couple of students contact me for the day or I may be slammed during peak time. I really like it here. I have very nice colleagues and have enjoyed my role so far.
I did get a nice pay raise as well. I do not have as much time off as I did with my previous role which is :( LOL. I had 5 personal days, one sick day a month, and 15 vacation days a year plus multiple holidays. Now I accrue one sick day per month and one vacation day per month, but I cannot use my vacation days until I have been here for 6 months. We do get our birthday off, but I can't use that until next year either. We do get a few days off here and there and we get 6 days off at Christmas which is nice. I also have an opportunity here that I probably would have continued to "postpone" if I was still at my previous position...
In Fall 2017, I will be starting my Master of Education in Higher Education Leadership. WHAT! This program is a brand new cohort beginning in the fall. I have been accepted into the program and am registered for two courses for Fall: Foundations of Education Leadership and Higher Education History. I am very nervous as I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in 2008 so I have not been in school in quite some time. I am glad that the course are just one at a time for my first semester. I will have one from August to October and the second from October to December. I am not sure how my classes will be for the spring semester. It is a 30-hour program so I should have 5 semesters if I take two classes per semester. I also get an employee scholarship that takes $600 off the tuition so that is very helpful. Being in higher ed, my university is very supportive of the employees pursuing more education. I actually feel a little out of place because almost everyone has their Master's degree or is in grad school. So I will be jumping on that bandwagon, LOL. We are also opening a new campus in 2019 that will be right down the road from where we live so my commute will be shorter (it's not very long as it is). My university is also very pro-diversity and service which you know, I love. I became an Ally in support of the LGBTQ Community. I plan to go through the rest of the training levels that are offered.
One downside to my new job is that my schedule has changed. Being that I am the only financial aid person on this campus, the office is open 8-5pm and I am the person. I am used to working until 4pm at my last job which I know is only an hour difference, but it makes a big difference with dance twice a week, cooking dinner, picking up kids, etc. Luckily, my boss allows me to leave at 4:30pm on Tues/Thurs in order to get Brynlee to dance on time (barely). One issue with me getting off so late, driving to get the girls, and then getting home to make dinner is that dinner has been crummy on my end. If I put something in the crock pot, it pretty much gets all dried out by the time I am actually able to get home and finish everything for it. If I don't put something in the crock pot (which I haven't been) then we are scrambling to figure something out.
Joe has recently stepped up here a bit. He gets home before me now. As long as I plan out what he needs to make (and it's not too complicated lol), he will make it. He made pork ribs/mac and cheese/salad one day and tacos/rice/beans the next. It is helpful for me. He has also been helping to keep the house tidied up. We just had to adjust to a new routine. I know it's going to change even more when I add in school. Eeek. I gave in a bought an Instant Pot. (Seriously, look it up!) I can't wait for it to get here. It is going to make dinners even easier on us.
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