The first paying job I ever got, when I was 16, was behind the counter of our local donut shop, Country Club Donuts. That donut shop is still there, and I smile when I'm down in Orange County and drive by the old place. Forty years of employment that started with a buck sixty-five an hour!
After a couple of jobs in clothing stores, I somehow graduated into office/clerical work, where I stayed for about 10 years. Leaving office work to finish my business degree, I ended up finding a great 15-year career in academia. I left academia for a few corporate jobs, leaving one to move onto the next, better one, time after time.
A couple of years ago my last job 'left' me (for which I am daily very, very thankful!). For those past 2 years, I've considered myself on a sabbatical of sorts, waiting and trusting that I wasn't yet finished with 'work' but just hadn't found out yet what I really wanted to do next, hadn't discerned what would keep my brain and heart engaged.
This is all by way of saying that I've changed careers a few times in my life, and it's always been a real adventure to start something new.
It's time for yet another career. Yeah, I know, I've been calling myself a 'retiree,' but really, I never believed it!
My résumé is once again brief and ripe for developing with new experiences in a whole new field: working with seniors. I really got a start back in 4th grade, when I spent time at the local nursing home in my hometown, and then again in the past 5 years or so, dealing with the issues of friends and family as their needs came up. My recent volunteer work with seniors has also helped me see that I have something to contribute in this area, now that I have the time.
I realize that I like taking care of the business of people who trust me to do right by them. It's nice to be appreciated and trusted.
To that end, I've earned a certificate and designation to supplement my work; I'm laying my plans for my own business, which I plan to launch June 1; I'm taking courses to obtain professional certification as a fiduciary; and in the not-too-distant future, I will probably do what I've always done: go back for some schooling to obtain a gerontology certificate, maybe even the master's.
After all, I'll need something more to put on that résumé so I can fill up a page!
The upshot of all this is that I don't feel middle-aged at all; I feel just like the 30-something I was when I left that office career and launched my next job in academia. I wonder if this next chapter will last 15 years, too!
