Find Clarity and Create a Life You Love
Monday! Do you live for the weekend? Have trouble getting out of bed on Mondays?
Most of us do. We have a job that keeps us occupied during the week and hopefully pays the bills. Then on the weekends, we get to “live”. If you have kids especially if they are school-aged and have activities more of your time may be stolen.
My Story of Overwhelm
I’ve been in that situation. About 20 years ago I created the Computer Graphics Technology program for a technical college. They wouldn’t let me purchase a curriculum that would have given the program an accreditation. They thought I’d have more buy-in if I created the program myself.
Classes started in August. They gave me extra pay to come in May for a month to set everything up. The classroom they put me in was in a building that was built to house the program that was in it. Kind of open space design. I got about one-third of the building. The instructors in the other program weren’t happy, one of them retired and the other resigned. I had two new instructors who still weren’t pleased with the arrangement.
I had no desks or computers for the students. In the month I had I was to find desks, and computers, and design a curriculum. I ordered a lot of textbook samples to decide on what I wanted.
I failed to get the program designed in the time allotted. So, I had a little over two months of summer “vacation”. I didn’t complete it during that time either. I quickly used up what I had created when classes started.
Then I would stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 am to work on the curriculum. The school was 52 miles away. Fortunately, it was in the Mountain Time Zone, and I was in the Central Time Zone. I could leave about the time I needed to be there which was 7:30 am.
The Turning Point
I remember stopping at least thrice on the way to class one day because I was so tired. That morning, I decided there was no amount of money that was worth leaving my boys without their mother, so I stopped staying up so late working.
Sometimes our vision needs a course correction.
I would take my files to class on a zip disk. There were many times I’d get to work and realize I had forgotten to transfer a file or two. I’d call my husband to have him email them to me. Each time I had to walk him through the process.
During those early days, I would often stay in the classroom after class was finished to work. Then I started riding with another instructor who lived about halfway there. Now I had to leave when class was finished. It was a relief.
For me, there were so many problems with the job. One was that they wanted to change the accreditation of the school and needed more instructors with bachelor’s degrees. I was one of the few that had one. They were paying for the others to get theirs. They wouldn’t pay for me to get a master’s degree because they would have had to increase my pay with a master’s. I also had to sit through all the meetings where they talked about the other’s getting their degrees. That felt like a waste of time. I could be preparing for class.
I had my first-semester evaluation right before Christmas break. The president of the college told me that if he had to recommend that the board renew my contract he wouldn’t. I’m sure this was meant to motivate me to do better. It motivated me to look for a new job during the break.
In the spring I found a part-time job at a non-profit that was less pay and in Oakley. I thought that would more than makeup for the pay cut. I finished the school year and moved on.
Does your life need some clarity? Maybe you are in a situation like mine. Join me for a day of looking back to 2024 so you can create a better 2025. Click here for more information.
Change can only come from the Man In The Mirror.
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Onward!
