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Article:
How to secure a better life with limited options
I got an email from a young girl a few weeks ago requesting some educational
and career advice for her personal situation. Unfortunately, her email
was accidentally deleted before I could respond. As I thought about
solutions to her situation, it came to me that the situation was not unique
and other people may benefit if I wrote an article.
The situation:
Our subject is a young, single mother who hasn’t graduated from high school. She likes children and thought becoming a nurse or a pediatrician would be desirable careers. She was currently working in a warehouse and was concerned about getting funding for college. She was also aware that she needed to complete a GED.
The positives:
While this situation may seem pretty bad
to some people, this young woman has a lot of things going for her. First
of all, she is young, so time is on her side. Secondly, she recognizes
that she wants to improve her situation. It’s important that
she has a desire to improve her life. Third, she is currently working. Having
a job to provide some sort of dependable income is a good thing.
The challenges:
The obstacles this person must overcome
to reach her goals are obtaining a high school equivalency certificate,
being able to obtain childcare to go to work and school and finding the
funds to further her education.
The unknowns:
Because I couldn’t follow up with this
person, there are a number of unknown issues to this situation. I
don’t know if she is
living on her own, with her parents or even in some other transitory
housing. I
don’t know what her transportation situation is. I can assume
she has some sort of childcare options since she is currently working. I
don’t know if she is receiving any government assistance or child
support.
The possible solutions:
Let’s quickly summarize before
we start proposing solutions. We
have a teenage, single mother who wisely wants to better her life by
finishing high school and pursue a career as a nurse or pediatrician. Based
on these variables, let’s come up with some possible solutions to
the situation. The first step is to break down the solution in to
short term and long term steps.
| Short Term Steps |
Long Term Steps |
Complete GED
Maintain an income to support family |
Determine a career
Fund education
Receive proper schooling
Begin career |
Let’s look at the possibilities for each of these steps:
Complete GED – There are many options to complete a GED. High
schools, community colleges and even city programs offer classes to get
a high school diploma. You can also buy study guides, or even borrow
them from your local library and perform self-study. If you’re
in a similar situation to this single mother, getting your GED is the best
first step to a better job and a better life.
Maintain an income - The single mother in our example is fortunate to have
a job that supplies income for her family, even though she doesn’t
like it. But there are some options that could help her prepare for
a medical career she could implement now, even without a high school diploma. If
you’re interested in learning about patient care and general medical
practice, consider taking a job as a nurse’s aide, a home health care
worker, or a senior companion. CNA (Certified Nurse’s Aide)
courses take only a few weeks to complete and are available at many high
schools, community colleges and community centers. You can get any
of these jobs without any experience and without a diploma. The pay
is entry level, but you can learn a lot about healthcare, yourself and even
if patient care is the right career for you. These jobs often offer
flexible schedules, overtime and shift differential pay for overnight work.
On the other hand, if you’re more concerned about paying for school, consider taking a job that may not be in the healthcare field with a larger company that offers tuition reimbursement. Experience is beneficial when seeking a healthcare job, but if finances are a larger short term burden, take the higher paying job and the tuition benefit. Larger home healthcare agencies may also provide the tuition reimbursement benefit.
Determine a career – It sounds like our case study already knew what
she wanted to do. But she did have some questions to answer. For
instance, the education requirements of her two chosen jobs – nurse
or doctor – are quite different. An RN degree can be earned
in as little as two years, while her MD would take at least eight years,
plus an internship. Learn about the career you think you want to get
into. Use the Internet, look at job boards and if you’re fortunate,
talk to someone in that field. Your high school guidance counselor
may be able to offer some insight as well. Career colleges offer strong
advisors and career counseling before you even begin a class.
Fund your education – There are many ways to fund your post-secondary
education. Believe it or not, having a low income and a child can
be to your advantage. Federal student grants are determined by financial
need only. In addition to federal grants, students may qualify for
a host of other scholarships, loans and local or school grants based on
a number of qualifiers including financial need, grades, or the course of
study. Employer tuition reimbursement, which we’ve already discussed,
is another option. Schools may also offer payment plans to break up
the lump sum tuition. If you don’t qualify for any of these
programs, consider working and saving to pay a semester at a time. Preparing
for your career is like running a marathon, not a sprint. If you pace
yourself and stay motivated, you’ll be able to finish the race, no
matter what obstacles may occur.
Receive proper schooling – There are a lot of post secondary school
options out there. Should you go to a community college, a state college,
a career college or a private college? It all depends on the program
you plan to study for and your financial situation. Make sure the
school you attend is properly accredited so your time and money will have
been a worthy investment. Another thing to consider is your comfort
level at the school. Can you receive individual attention if you need
it? Is there job placement assistance after you graduate? Use
the Internet to research schools and develop questions for your admissions
counselor.
Begin your career – Once you’ve completed your schooling, you
can pursue your career. We’ll discuss the steps necessary for
this in another article.
Conclusion: No matter how difficult your situation, I firmly believe it is possible to overcome. Break down your problem into steps that are more manageable and work through each step with persistence. Finally, remember that your career is like a long distance race. It doesn’t matter how quickly you get out of the starting blocks, if you don’t finish the race.
