Last week I applied for lots of jobs and I have heard back from several of them. I have a job interview to be a day camp counselor for the summer for when I get back in to town and I also received a phone call today to set up a time for an interview for a job as a gymboree teacher. I wasn't able to actually set up an interview time for that one yet because I don't get a cell phone signal in the town that I'm staying in this week. I'm going to venture out tomorrow in search of a spot with a signal so I can call her back and set up a time. I'm more hopeful about the gymboree teacher job because it pays a little better and they have a location in south Austin whereas the day camp is much farther north (although that one is a lot of fun field-trips with the kids).
I've also heard back from a few different families about being a nanny. I heard back from the one with the possible travel to Europe and they said they're going to call me to talk to me further. That was several days ago and I haven't heard back from them yet so I'm a little nervous. I've also heard from another family that is looking for a full time, live-in nanny in the Westlake area in Austin. I have not been able to talk to them on the phone yet because of the limited cell phone service I have this week, so that's really frustrating for me. I am going to call them when I get to Indy this weekend. When I first started looking at being a nanny my plan was to stay in the Austin area but then I decided to broaden my search to anywhere in Texas. With the grad program at Schreiner to get my teaching certificate, I can do that from anywhere as long as I can make it to Kerrville one weekend a month. So I decided to keep my options open.
I don't remember if I mentioned in one of my other blogs the jobs that I applied for with KISD. I was talking to Elaine a few weeks ago and she mentioned that they have a few openings, one of which is for the job that her fiancee has at the moment. I talked to him about his job and decided that it was something I'm interested in and so I filled out an application and sent it in. I also applied for a couple of other jobs they have open in the district as well, just in case. Sam (Elaine's fiancee) also put in a good word for me with his boss. These jobs don't really pay that great though and there's a chance that I'd make more money as a nanny. But, like I said, I'm keeping all my options open.
In addition to contacting families in Texas about being a nanny, I also created a profile with greataupair.com, which is a website that connects families with au pairs (nannies) both domestically and internationally. I did this just to browse the site and see what kinds of families in other countries are looking for au pairs. Today I had two different families contact me to tell me that they viewed my profile and are interested in learning more about me because they feel I'd be a good fit for their family. This caught me a bit off guard (in a good way).
The first family is a family with 3 kids in Germany and the second is a family in Sweden that has one little girl now and they are expecting twins in September. Both families would pay for me to take classes to learn their respective language once I get there. The German family is super nice, sent me a really long email and is putting me in contact with their current and past au pairs so I can talk to them about their experiences. They're looking for someone to start sometime between the end of July and beginning of September. The Swedish family is going to call me this weekend to talk more and I can't remember when they said they need someone to start.
So that totally messes up the plans that I thought I had at this point. I thought that I wanted to stay in the country (more specifically in Texas) for the next year and then embark on some journey to another country next fall. But I love kids and I'd really like to be a nanny, so why not go and do it in another country? I see no good reason why not. If I do this I would not be able to get my teaching certificate, but I think I'm ok with that since I'm not even sure that I want to be a teacher. Other things that might be an issue are Elaine's wedding (I'm letting the families know about it though and that I need to come back for it) and me applying for a program like the Peace Corps or YAV (how does the interview process work if I'm not in America?). Also, the going rate for a live-in nanny in America with my level of education and experience with kids is between $450 and $600 a week. For an au pair in another country the going rate seems to be $100-$200 a week. I'm not really sure how I am going to make that work with having loans that I need to pay back and such. Hopefully the German family's au pairs can tell me more about all of the money stuff.
So once I started thinking about the au pair thing and how I wouldn't be able to get my teaching certificate, that got me thinking about whether or not I really want to get it at all. It'll cost me another $11,000 in student loans and my only reasons for getting it are to give me something extra to put down as a qualification when applying for the Peace Corps and as a back-up plan for my future. Is that really worth $11,000? I'm not so sure. Plus I'd have to spend $180 to take the GRE as soon as I get back to Austin and I don't really have that money right now. I'd also like to have some time to study for this test before spending that much money on it and I don't really have that option either. So now I'm trying to decide if I want to apply for the program at all and I have to make up my mind soon (like in the next few days) because applications are due May 1st and I need to get my letters of recommendation in by that time too.
So at this point I have no certainties about my future holds for me but I'm really excited about all of my options at the moment. I've finally decided that I am going to do something with my life that makes ME happy and not worry about what other people think of it. I was stressing out so much about my future because I felt like I had to decide on a career right away now that I have a degree. I felt like because I went to college that my next step had to be to get a "real job" because that's what's expected of a college graduate. I felt like the only way I would be considered successful in the eyes of other people would be if I went on to graduate school or immediately started a career. The pressure I was feeling from others was overwhelming. Once I thought about it though I realized that no one in my life was actually putting this pressure on me and it was all in my head. All of my friends and family have been supportive of the ideas I've had for my future, especially lately. This is very encouraging.
I've now decided that I don't care if the rest of the world views me as a success or not. This is MY life and I am going to do what makes ME happy. I went to college because I wanted to continue my education after high school and because having a degree would put me a head in the game of life and open more doors for me. I did it because it was something that I wanted to do, not just because it was what was expected of me. Now that I have my degree it's up to me to decide if I want to use it and how. Even if I don't end up using my degree I know that I will never look back on my time in college and the money spent there as a waste. I learned a lot about myself from the experience and of course from the classes as well. I am not saying that I'm going to just dabble in things the rest of my life and float from one thing to the next, whatever happens to make me happy at the moment. I'm just saying that I'm not going to do things because that's what expected of me or because that's what people my age usually do. I enjoy learning and would really like to go back to school one day and continue my education, I just don't know when or in what. I also know that I want a family one day and that's going to require some stability in my life, especially financially. That day is not today though.
So this is my plan:
1. Experience as many things as I can
2. Do something that makes me feel like I've given of myself and impacted the world in some way
3. Start a family and be completely devoted to them and making sure they have as many experiences as they can
At the end of my life I want to feel as though I lived my life to the fullest and experienced as many things as I could during my time on earth.
1 comment:
I have comments and here they are: First, keep in mind you don't have to publish this if you'd like this to be all private and such. I completely understand. Second, I'm not being critical, and that's not my intention, but I am going to be honest.
I want you to consider before you jump into anything how much you said that you wished you could have seen your friends this year. Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, etc are a long ways away and although they might be a total blast, we wouldn't see you near as much as we have this year (and that hasn't been much). I was also thinking about how John and Kristi and Holly will all be in Austin next year; Hannah and Becca will be in Kerrville--it seems you'd have all your friends within the same two hours. Wouldn't that be sweet? On the other hand, I also understand the need to get away and make an adventure. I just don't want you to be unhappy doing it right now if the timing isn't good for you. This is a totally personal decision and I'm not being selfish in anyway when I say this. I'm just watching out for you Chasity. Miss you!
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