I have to believe this. I was recently forced into making a life change. My place of employment made a decision to let me go after three years... Not based on something I had any control over... Not based on lack of education, skills or ability... Not based on a lack of desire to learn or to improve... BUT based on poor judgement on their part? So, it makes me wonder? Why DO bad things happen to good people? How could someone I had trusted so much do something to intentionally hurt me?? And then I think... will I ever actually need the answers to these questions? There is more to life than a job. And that is what it was... a job. How many jobs does one have in their lifetime? Fifty years ago, could have been one or two, maybe even three (although unlikely). Today, could be 10 or 15! So there you have it folks. I have already worked for six different companies and I am only 26. I have lived through a book's worth of chapters yet there is still room in that book for more. It sounds like I am doing alright I know (that all of my rocks are in check) however, the truth is... I was devastated. I knew I wanted to make a change. I just wasn't planning on doing it this soon and that is where divine intervention comes into play and I'll tell why I believe this!Everything in my life has fallen into place thus far especially when it comes to my career. You see, when I graduated High School I had no idea what type of career I wanted to pursue. I knew I had the brains to do whatever I wanted but there was nothing that I passionately wanted to do. At the same time, I had influences in my life that helped make the legal field look somewhat more appealing to me. (A lot of you already know this story so feel free to skip ahead. For those of you that don't keep reading!) So, my father, in an attempt to try and guide his confused teenage daughter into choosing a career path the best way he knew how, handed me the CCAC course catalog. As I flipped through, already somewhat interested in law, I came across the Associates Degree in Paralegal Studies section and that was it. I made my choice. So for two years I studied the legal field and learned, if anything, what the hell a Paralegal was. When my community college experience was near end, my advisor not only "advised" me to get my BA but he encouraged me to apply for an internship so that I could gain "office" experience while simultaneously finishing my degree. And that is what I did. The internship I received was with a firm that had an office in Monroeville as well as an office in Oxford Center, downtown. So it just so happened that when I transferred from CCAC to Point Park University to work on my BA, I was also able to transfer my internship location to the downtown office. Luck or something else? Funny how life works sometimes isn't it? My next journey left me young and determined and with that I was able to complete my BA in Legal Studies within the next year and a half all while gaining paid office experience! When my BA journey ended, it was time to find a real job! During this process a friend of mine recommended a placement agency. I worked as a temp for awhile but it wasn't long until I landed my first "real" job at Thorp Reed & Armstrong. (And I have to take a minute to say this part because they're all reading: It was there that I had made some of my best friends =) A year and a half with that firm not only taught me a lot but also happened to get me through (financially) to my wedding. After that event took place, now on my own, I sought to find something a little closer to home. I made the decision to leave TRA for a small law firm in the Cranberry area. Unfortunately, a month into the new gig I knew it wasn't for me so a temp I was again! Until one day, a recruiter that had worked with some time earlier that year called me out of the blue with a lead on the Pepper Hamilton position. (It was a long shot as I had zero experience in the field but I nailed the interview and they were desperate I think.) Either way, the offer was extended and the position, mine. At the time I started there (almost 3 years ago) I knew nothing about Intellectual Property. Intellectual What? I swear I had never even heard of it! And they hired me? Stuuuupid! But what an awesome opportunity for me let me tell you! I was 23 when I started working there and I was a fighter. During my time with them I had went from essentially nothing to eventually gaining my own office, a title change, a promotion, an extensive raise, etc. What more could a girl want? But with power comes envy and with envy comes malice. Trust no one.
Now here is where it all fits together... (I know it's been long but I promise it will make sense).
Now I am jobless. I think back to 4, almost 5 years ago at the time I worked at TRA and this is what I gather: I was unhappy with my career and I had no real passion for it. I remember spending numerous lunchtime hours on the phone with Pitt inquiring about their Elementary Education program. Really. I had worked in the legal field less than two years and I already wanted out. So why didn't I do it then? What happened that made me decide to stay doing something I didn't really even like? Why didn't I make the change four years ago? The answer? Opportunity. Someone or something (a higher power if you wish) placed opportunities at my fingertips that I couldn't bear to turn down. It was this sequence of events that led me to Pepper Hamilton and it was there that I had conjured up a plan to finally leave the field. I had a plan. I really did. I enrolled in Drexel University's School of Education Online. I was finally doing it. I didn't care if it took me two, three or four years to complete it, I just felt relief to know that I was finally working toward a more positive future. I started in the Spring of 2009. (It's still coming together I promise.) Just recently (Spring), I completed a quarter and made a decision to take the Summer quarter off. After all, I wasn't in any hurry because I knew I was eventually getting out! But something changed during my time off... Self-Doubt. I became weary of my decision making skills and started second guessing my instincts, even wondering if I should just give up and focus on the "path of least resistance" (i.e. the Paralegal career)... and that is when, low and behold, I was thrown a life twist. Something that I never thought could happen in a million years... happened. It was unfair, unjust, unlucky, uneverything but it was also my answer. Here I am wondering if I should quit the school I had just started and give up on one of my dreams when God provided me with the opportunity to answer my own questions...
Jobless on unemployment (although I forgot to mention the Real Estate License. Isn't it funny how I decided to go and get THAT out of the blue not thinking that I would ever actually need to do it full-time. It used to just be my hobby =), I have two options: 1. Find another Paralegal job and continue to slave away for some of the world's most sinister beings, or 2. Re-enroll in Drexel's accelerated program and take advantage of this opportunity (see, there's that word again) to be able to acquire my Elementary Education Teaching Certificate in less than a year's time. If I pass up this opportunity now I may never have a chance to get it back. The Lesson: He may not always answer us the way we want him to but he answers. This experience gave me the insight I needed to make a life-altering decision. And no, I'm not "lucky" in this way. Anyone who has faith can have similar experiences. You just need to ask. So, in conclusion... yes, I had a plan BUT maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself.
lam
