What's next for me???

Hmmmm??? I have no idea!!!!! I am waiting for my husband to get an attending position and currently I am mostly a stay at home Mom. I have an MSW and did 5 years post graduate training in family therapy. I worked for 7 years full-time in a family services agency before my husband began residency and we moved. I had also been on the faculty of Columbia University's School of Social Work for a few years, as a field instructor for 2nd year Master's students. When we moved for residency, I was newly pregnant and never went back to work. I have since let my license to practice expire. That was in 1997.

Since then, I have had 3 kids and moved again for my husband's fellowship program. To get a little bit of a life, I have volunteered on a Board of Directors of a social service agency, for a battered women's shelter and at several synagogues in a variety of capacities. I have taught Hebrew school, special needs kids at the Hebrew school, and was a day camp music specialist. Currently, I am employed by my kid's preschool where I teach 8 classes every Monday and get free child care. I also lead a Mommy and Me music program at another place, once a week. Oh yeah----for fun, I have joined major semi-professional choruses in each place we live, so I get a chance to stretch my musical skills and learn some of the most amazing music ever written....not to mention perform in beautiful, huge music halls for thousands of people.

Once my husband finds an attending job, in the coming months and we move yet again.......I don't know what I will do. I am mostly thinking it will be nice to just stay at home and decorate my new house for several months, while I learn the area and get my kids set up in activities, etc. I am sure that will get boring after awhile. If I don't get pregnant again, I will need to figure out what to do while all my kids are in school in the new town. We are strongly considering trying for another baby once we are settled in a new house. Of course, that will put a damper on things for a while, as I tend to have high risk pregnancies.

I know for sure that wherever we go, I will need to find a chorus to join. I think I also would like to find out about getting a SW license for the new state. I could either work part-time or perhaps even go back to school myself somehow and get that DSW. It only takes about 2 years. Then we could be Dr. and Dr., LOL!!! I have toyed with the idea of opening up my own private practice in clinical supervision, something near and dear to my heart!!!! I very much miss my work. If I get pregnant, I would just put these plans off for another 3 years. I guess that's not too terrible. Somehow, finding this board and seeing this topic (education and career) is stirring things up a bit for me.

So many unknown factors........I just need to make decisions little by little.

[PrincessFiona]

missed post

Laurel,

I can't believe that I missed your post! If I get on and don't answer the same day, the 'old' "new" messages don't show up and I end up missing some of the good ones.

What is next for you??? Holy MOLY...you sound like you are really busy and up on things right now!!! You seem to really have things together and have direction in your life. I think that the hardest thing about moving...before you even know where you are going is that feeling of not being able to visualize how your life will be....It is hard to move on emotionally and prepare yourself for the next step when you aren't even sure of where you will be....I know that for me, once I knew where we were headed I felt much more...at ease.

What would it take for you to renew your license? Would you have to retake any courses/exams? Are you still interested in social work or are you considering having your life take a new direction?


For us, the first year was a major adjustment. I stayed at home and I think that in many ways we all really needed that. It really took about a year before I began to feel a little antsy....the kids were really needy and it was just such a big change for all of us. So..staying home for the first year sounds like a realistic idea...as to baby#4...we're doing that now too...so I'll let you know how it works out

What kind of high risk pregnancies do you have? It can be so hard when you have smaller children...there are a few people here who have been in that situation that I'm sure could share their stories with you too.

In any case, it sounds like you have been so active and like you have done and are doing so many exciting, diverse things!! I have a hunch that wherever you guys end up you are going to do great!

kris

[houseelf]

Laurel,

I just realized that I missed this too....Wow, I'm sorry.

Have you come to any decisions in the last few weeks?

Kelly

Thanks Kris and Kelly for your replies. I am still way up in the air. I think that most likely I will stay home for the first year in our new place and make my career decisions as I get to know the area and resources and feel that my family is settled. My career is definitely social work, but it's very versatile and I am open to a lot of different types of work settings. Singing is my avocation, my first love. As far as licensing goes----I think every state has different rules, so I will have to wait and see. I'm not in any hurry.....just pondering the possibilities, which is fun.