Day One-Hundred-Twenty-Two...A New Chapter

So, I applied for a job about 2 months ago at my on-call job. I interviewed with my current manager. I interviewed with the Program Manager Supervisor. He was VERY excited about hiring me. It was a Program Manager in King County managing staff who are providing care for developmentally disabled and Deaf adults in a group home. It would have been perfect for me! Taking my Special Education experiences and my office experiences and putting them in one job...that would have been AWESOME! Well, I probably would have gotten the job if our email and phone hadn't been cut off. Thanks Counterpunch!

Anyhow, I didn't get that job. I did get a letter from my manager saying she was trying to contact me for a few weeks. I stopped by the office and talked with the supervisor. He mentioned that there was another job available. In fact, it was taking over for my manager! I would be my own boss! LOL! I would be taking over managing the ASL sites. I'll have Deaf clients, Deaf staff, hearing staff. I'll be in charge of coordinating services, providing services, scheduling, staff meetings, etc. It will be nice.

So, I start on Wednesday at 8:00 am. I'm starting at one of the houses I'll manage. I'll be trained for about a month, then will take the reigns.

I'm a little nervous, but excited, too. It'll be my first real management position. I wonder if I can do it right. I wonder if I'll be a good manager. I wonder if my staff will respect me...even like me. We'll see.

The problem I might have is scheduling school. Part of my job will be to arrange the schedule. One of the perks is that I can put my needs into the schedule before scheduling around it. And, I need to have 16 hours of Direct Contact Service with my clients. So, I can put my 16 hours in, then schedule the other staff around that...which is nice. But, I also have other classes to take. This quarter, I have classes every day. Next quarter, I probably will, too, but it will be a smaller chunk of time each day. So, if I can work my "8-hour-day" in shifts, then I can go to school AND work. If I can't, then I'll have to drop school. However, I am going to TRY MY BEST to do both. Especially because I found out yesterday that there is a way to be funded through Worker Retraining Program at school even though I'm working full time. Let me explain...

So, one of the requirements for worker retraining is that I am in a declining occupation. Well, technically Interpreters aren't in a declining need. So, my WRP Advisor suggested I look through the descriptions to find out what my job is and see if it's declining. Well, sure enough, it is. So, I 'should' be able to continue with my education and work full time with getting full funding through WRP. I should know more later this week.

Well, I think this is a turning point in my life. I hope I don't screw it up! LOL!