When I was growing up the conversation about careers always ended with study hard and do well in school so that you can go to college. It wasn’t if I was going to college but which one. I knew, too, that I didn’t want to live at home. I always liked going out to explore. The school wasn’t far from home, but it had a unique bilingual program so that wasn’t a hard decision to go to Stockton to attend Elbert Covell College at the University of the Pacific. I took a liberal arts program and received my degree in International Studies with a minor in Spanish. The reason for choosing that major was that I wanted to live abroad my junior year, and I chose a degree that had a requirement of doing just that! I studied in England, Spain, and Costa Rica. I had great fun and honed my skills in Spanish as well as getting to know about people who lived differently than I did at home in Kensington, California.
When in Costa Rica, I had an internship with their immigration department. I worked at the international airport in San Jose. I was at the disembarkation post and processed people as they were leaving the country. I thought I might become a flight attendant or work in the US Immigration Department when I graduated from school. That did not turn out to be. I began working at the US Food and Drug Administration thinking if I worked at one agency, I could transfer to another one with ease. Not so. I was encouraged to enter an education program to become a teacher from one of my church friends. I took night classes and eventually became an elementary school teacher and am still one today. Although I started out in bilingual education I transitioned to English only when I made the move from San Francisco to the East Bay. I still use my Spanish skills from time to time.
I moved to Nevada County a few years ago and worked as a substitute teacher for many schools. It was great to see what happened in other classes but I really wanted to be back in my own classroom. It took a while to make the right match and during that time I explored a multitude of options. So, I am familiar with our local One Stop Center, Indeed.com, Linkedin, Caljobs, and Encore, to name a few. I also read many books about interviewing and selecting a new career. One book I really connected with was Switchby Chip and Dan Heath. It got me rethinking about how I do things and changed my attitude for the positive!
I am excited to learn more about careers for the future when I do retire.
