The technical definition of career is:
“An occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress.”
I suppose in some ways, I have a career in mothering and in homeschooling.
(Please note: the definition does NOT say you have to be paid in a career!)
The homeschooling career is going to come to an end in a relatively short period of time, though; two more school years after this one, and my last baby will graduate from high school.
And at that point, I may take on a new career as a nursing student.
What else?
Blogging definitely meets the definition for a career, and I have to say that I feel pretty good about that one. Blogging has been a great way to use my talents to serve and help other people, and it’s been super flexible way to earn money (good for a homeschooling mom!)
Plus, I really like writing and taking pictures, so even after all these years, blogging is still fun for me.
Ha. I have never been, and will never be, a career person. I mean, jobs, sure. Plenty of those. But never an overriding interest in one thing that I have kept doing for more than a few years. There is blogging–maaaaany years now–but that’s more like my hobby. And I am, of course, a mother, and will be for the rest of my life, but again, I don’t really consider that a “career.”
So I guess I don’t have a career. And that’s fine with me.
I feel like my career, first and foremost, is that of mom. Its been very weird to continue that career, as an Empty Nester, with them all living elsewhere! My job that pays the bills is X-ray tech. I feel like it has been a blessing in my life, but as I grow older, it has gotten more challenging to work outside of the home for 40 hours, hauling equipment and being on my feet or walking much of the day. So I guess I’m also feeling that my time doing that is slowly coming to an end as I think of retirement.
I’m a work to live kind of guy. I mean, I feel okay with what I do but it doesn’t fulfill me as a person. I just make money doing it and I like that I can use that money to live on.
This is something I think about often, since I don’t really have strong passions and feelings about things like my husband and parents and brother do. I was a teacher for 6.5 years, but that wasn’t my passion. I switched to being a teaching major in college because I freaked out after getting a couple B’s as a nutrition major. Come to find out at graduation…many people got many C’s in nutrition and still graduated. I guess I should have done that since it is still an interest of mine. But I would have take something like 15 science courses just to get started with a masters in nutrition. Not exactly my thing. For the last three years I have been home with my girls. I really feel like my strongest desire is to be at home with my kids and take care of our home. I do find myself thinking about what career, even part-time, that I want to do as the kids get older. I probably want something that follows the school schedule so I can be off when the kids are off. If I don’t go back to full-time teaching in some capacity, maybe I’ll substitute teach 2-3 days a week? I don’t really foresee myself working full-time until my kids are out of high school. I want to get errands and house stuff done while they’re gone so I can focus on them while they’re here. Plus I’m sure there will be sports and other events, and I think it’s a really good thing to be around when the kids are home, no matter the age. The only other career I’ve really thought about is nursing. The schedule would be ok, though night shifts sound like a beast! But then again, there are all those science courses! In conclusion…I don’t really know what my future career would be! I’m open to suggestions!
Abigail, you sound like you enjoy caregiving. With an ever increasing elderly population, you might consider home health care (visiting aides or nurses) or nursing home work which doesn’t always require night work.
If you’d like to do something with nutrition, you might look into grocery stores (many now offer nutritional information and classes but not all their positions require degrees.) Teaching in a vocational food service area might also be an option. Good luck to you, whatever future decision you make.