This week I sat down with my teacher to go over my resume. I've been
using the same resume for years, because it works for me. Any time I've
sent it out to multiple jobs, I always get at least a couple of
interviews. But since the healthcare field is so different from what I'm
used to in the business world, I just felt that I needed his
professional viewpoint on what all I needed to include. He really loved
my resume though and honestly felt that I needed very few changes, which
really surprised me! We actually use a form of resume called a vitae.
Has anyone ever heard of that before? It basically is just a more
thorough resume with paragraphs explaining your experience instead of
bullet points. It is the perfect format for me considering that is
exactly how my resume already was!
Then we discussed what I will do after graduation. I am
going to register for two summer classes and finally get on my way
towards completing my bachelor's degree! I cannot wait until May 2014!
My teacher is a great advisor and friend. He knows that despite my
personal motivation to continue my education, I also need a big push to
actually achieve my goals. I don't plan to stop with just a bachelor's
degree. I told him that I never planned to even be in this situation. I
dreamed of going off to college and eventually moving to a big city or
another country. I never planned for my PaPa to die two months into my
college career and to end up in a 6 month long bout of depression that I
vaguely remember. I never planned to move back home when I was 20 years
old, or even to get a full-time job making the move so permanent. And I
certainly never planned to enroll in community college for a degree in anything medical. My life is so opposite of what I ever expected it to be. I told him that, and how I felt so behind all of my friends who have moved to those bigger cities and who have real jobs making lots of money. They get to travel with their friends and families and go out to try new things. I feel like I am a level below them because I am still a college student at the age of 24. Seriously? That sounds so awful for me to basically admit that I'm jealous of what they have. But it's all very true.
But because my teacher has also become a good friend, he pushed me to express what I really want to accomplish in my life. I never want to be just a respiratory therapist. Once I get my bachelor's, I want to get my master's in healthcare management. I eventually want to be in management, possibly owning a business related to the field. But I even shared with him that I still have dreams of going to law school and being a lobbyist. I still love business and law and government and politics. Those will always be a part of me. He assured me that all of these things do make sense together and my dreams aren't out of left field! But his best advice, and something that will always stick with me, is not to compare myself to what others have. They have finished school and are now in what is the rest of their life. But I have not finished school, and clearly my educational goals are nowhere near complete. So how can I compare my life, where I am still climbing the ladder, to someone who has already reached the top of their ladder. I currently don't see an end to my ladder! And I hope that it continues to be that way throughout my life. I'm admitting that I am going to be one of those lifetime learners who never stops setting new goals and achieving bigger and better things!
