New Venture

Last week, I started a new job. 

My college degree is in Occupational Therapy. Since graduating from college almost seven years ago, I've worked OT jobs exclusively. I mainly work in nursing homes, but have also worked in school districts. I've worked full time, part time, and/or PRN (also known as "as needed") over the years between too many nursing homes to count. I'm not good at saying no, so often I'm working full time or part time at one facility consistently, and then working some evenings or weekends at places where I'm employed PRN. The accountant who does our taxes gets mad every year at the shear number of W-2s I present her with from my gazillion employers. She jokes about it, but really I think that deep down she hates me. But anyway, as many of my OT, PT, SLP, and nursing friends can attest to, healthcare can be a really taxing field to work in. During the times that I was working 40+ hours, I found myself getting really burnt out. I was thrilled when we moved to our current home last summer (thus cutting our expenses drastically since housing is included as part of my husband's benefit package) and I was able to scale back my hours, work exclusively PRN jobs, and really control my schedule. I was able to take more time to do things I wanted to, but still work when I wanted and bring in a great paycheck. PRN is the best of all worlds for me.

While I generally enjoy my job - I legitimately love the elderly population, and the fact that I am able to rehabilitate them and make a positive influence in their lives is kind of like the cherry on top - I've realized over the years that it's truly not my passion. I make a great living, find a lot of value in what I do for people, and have built many meaningful relationships over the years with both co-workers and patients, but could never shake the feeling that I wanted to do something else. I have lots of dreams and goals for what the future might look like for me, and am grateful that my flexible OT schedule has begun to allow me to explore other options while still bringing in some cash working PRN.

The other week I went to our local library (more about my absolute love affair with libraries at a later date) and saw a job posting. The position was for "Technical Services Specialist", and while they were ideally looking for someone with a computer-related degree, I was convinced that I could fill all of the jobs roles listed. They were looking for someone who was proficient with computers, was a "people person" who would be able to tutor people on the use of computers and other devices (smart phones, Kindles, iPads, etc.), would be able to create newsletters and flyers and post on social media platforms, and could assist with children's programming at the library. Check, check, check, check. I interviewed up against seven or eight other people, and was kind of shocked when I was offered the job. The job is part time, 30 hours a week, and a drastic pay cut from what I can make in OT, but they were really flexible with creating a schedule that would allow me to continue to work my PRN OT jobs on the side, so I went for it!

The past week was insane, hence my lack of posting here on the blog. I started at the library on Monday, but had already had some OT jobs lined up, so I worked six days, logging over 50 working hours between five different places (the library and four different nursing homes), and spent hours driving between said facilities. We live in a pretty remote area, so I typically have to drive anywhere from forty minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes to more populated areas with more opportunities for OT jobs. I'm THRILLED to trade in this killer commute for the twelve minute commute to the library most days. 

Anyway, I'm grateful for a little bit of a different opportunity, and am excited about learning some new job skills. Thanks for following along, and please bare with me as I get used to my new schedule!

Here's to new adventures!

xoxo,

Steph