Okay...Here is the skinny on the new job. I am going to be a "Dairy Sales Associate." Basically I will be stocking milk, cheese, and other dairy products. Not really glamorous, but I am not irritated by it.
For those of you who are concerned, let me please explain some things. I have a B.S. in English Education. I also have a M.S. in College Student Personnel Services. I could teach in any junior high, middle school, or high school. I could work in any student affairs department in any university on the planet. I have done both of those things. I really have enjoyed my time in CSPS and student affairs. I would love to still be working in that field, but unless you have done it...you may not really understand how stressful my past jobs have been.
As a student teacher, I taught mostly juvenile delinquents. I wish I was exaggerating, but I am not. I taught hoodlums. Some people rise to the occasion and take that opportunity to help get kids out of their funk. I wasn't really interested in being in that sort of environment, and when one of my kids committed suicide, I really was thrown. It was a very emotional experience for me, and it was hard. I also saw my supervising teacher's attitude towards teaching. She was bitter and useless as a teacher. I could see myself becoming that way too after a few years so I got out of teaching.
I got into student affairs and LOVED it. Student affairs is really a good niche for me. I enjoy it and I am very good at it. The positions that I had in SA though were highly stressful, and though I love working with students, student leaders, and with the university system, you can only see and be involved with the aftermath of so many suicide threats/attempts, rapes, domestic assaults, roommate conflicts, drug raids, and vandalism before it gets you down. I have taken two years off from all of that and I would love to get back into SA. Unfortunately, the opportunities aren't that numerous.
I have always loved secretarial work...so much so that even when I had an office assistant, I continued to do most of the filing, phone answering, organizing, ect. myself. A perfect job for me is secretarial work like that. I am also (not really excited) interested in a mundane job. Something that is mostly routine with little chance of some catastrophe happening and changing the schedule. I don't forsee too much danger in stocking cheese!
This new job for me has good hours so I won't have to put my kids in daycare. It will provide extra income for our family and will give me a chance to get back into the workforce. I don't plan to work at this position forever...just until something more appealing comes along. For now, I am excited to be doing something that isn't emotionally draining...and that promises to be pretty boring!