Reflection
Essay (WGU Portfolio Career Reflections-April-2019)
Beginning on nothing
Many years ago, at age 24 I found myself homeless, living with
relatives, a single-mother with my three small children. I had a barely-minimum wage job, but I was
just above the qualification line for any financial assistance. I was making
$8.50 an hour as a receptionist and I made too much for food stamps program
too. Things
were pretty bleak for us but we managed to get
through this anyway.
My kids were 3, 5 and 6 and I had found that having an office job
wasn’t enough – but it was a start. Life was pretty
rough and I was constantly worried about whether
it would be the electricity or the phone that was going to get shut off each
month because I couldn’t make all my bills. My car
was old and breaking down constantly and not running reliably. In fact, I had
lost my job after missing too much work because of it. But you just keep marching on forward
and somehow find the support you need to keep going. I started over and I began
trying to piece my life together.
Starting
Over
After I got my car fixed by a family
friend, I found another job, saved up money while my family took care of my
kids for free while I waited to get approval for
childcare assistance. I was able to eventually get approved for childcare
assistance and
got some help with transportation costs, and help moving into a cheap
apartment.
I got some more training,
took parenting classes, learned how to budget, how to cook from scratch, and
how to feed my kids on $40 a week - that's less than $5 a day. Make no mistake - I did none of this all alone. If it hadn't been for programs like
United Way, the food banks, Catholic Community Services, YWCA, clothing banks, a
YWCA training sponsorship to go to the Technical College for six months, and
Multi service centers, emergency utility assistance, I wouldn't have made it
past those years and made as much progress as I have.
People had been so generous
and kind with their time and resources to help us through those years. It was
not just the physical support that kept us going, it was the training,
mentoring and emotional encouragement through the difficult times, that helped
us not only survive, but desire something greater for myself and my children.
It made me see potential in myself that was just an inkling at the beginning,
and the hope grew into a flame and the flame into a fire within me to reach
beyond my circumstances and for dreams that I could someday achieve.
I met and dated my husband
Gary and we got married in 1996. I was no longer struggling to survive as a
single mom anymore. He was in college himself, and finances were very tight for
a few more years but things slowly started to improve for us. He was going to
school to become a computer technician and I was working in office temp jobs,
trying to improve my skills.
After several
temp-assignments I worked on one at Boeing, that lead to a full-time position
and that had tremendous opportunities to learn new skills while I was there. I
discovered more about my aptitudes for software and data transformation as I
learned how to upload training schedules into their Training Management
systems. Over nearly three years I learned new software skills, took on more
responsibilities and even after surviving a layoff from Boeing, these skills led
to better jobs and bigger career moves into the Software development and IT
industry. For the first time in my life,
I felt like I was going somewhere in a real career. Things were looking up and I felt like I had
purpose.
In my early thirties I
started taking college classes and individual training classes to learn new skills
as I needed them for my job. I was promoted to management and began taking on a
lot more responsibility at work. My classes and mentors taught me many skills
that have helped me succeed in life and my career. I was unable to continue the
classes, as I was working too many hours in the management position, but it was
in that role that I learned about my ultimate career desire: to become a
computer systems analyst or business analyst.
Career progression
I had started out there as a
logistics manager, and eventually shifted over to the IT/Systems side of the
business, and moved onto a new career field as a data analyst. Since then I
have worked in the healthcare field, legal services/bankruptcy claims industry,
and software consulting. I have worked
for various companies like Amazon Web Services, Boeing, IT consulting, and
others over the years since that first position in IT, progressively moving
forward as a successful operations data analyst, even without the college
degree.
Today the Future Looks
Bright
As of TODAY, I am still
working on that college degree –and I will graduate with my Bachelors of
Science degree program in Business Management- IT next year in 2020 from
WGU. I have been a home-owner for the
last 18 years, I have a successful career, my kids are grown, and stand on
their own feet as well. My
kids don’t remember being poor or homeless - though they respect how far we
have come, and they know I am resourceful and diligent. I am productive, intelligent,
can think on my feet, and resilient to bounce back when life just keeps
presenting new opportunities and challenges.
I am grateful for the hard times in my life as they give me great sense
of perspective and humility.
I attribute my successes to all the organizations like United Way,
the Multi Service Centers, YWCA, Catholic Community Services, and many others
who have mentored me along the way. I still
count on family members, community support groups, my church and my mentors and
teachers to help me grow and keep thriving every day. I will never regret this time in my life,
with all the struggles, obstacles and setbacks. It has shaped me into who I have
become today. I think all of these things will continue to help me move my
career forward into my ultimate goal of becoming a great inspirational writer, women's advocate, and accomplished speaker.
