Sep 14 2009
Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Headed - Making My Dream Come True
There are a few things that I would like to share with everyone. It’s time to be serious for a moment. So, what I’m going to do is share with you kind of where I’ve been and where I’m headed. Please pay attention.
First, I was in the Navy for 3 1/2 years and ended up with a general discharge (under honorable conditions). Besides my career, all I really lost was was the Montgomery G.I. Bill. At the time it wasn’t that big of a deal because I was happy to start with retail jobs and work my way up to a good paying factory job.
When I was in the Navy, I hurt my back pretty bad. It wasn’t due to an accident. It was an early onset of degenerate disc disease caused by going from a lazy teenager to an overworked sailor. They say that condition isn’t supposed to hurt. Well, it does.
Earlier this year, the pain in my lower back and the nerve pain in my legs finally got to a point that I couldn’t handle it anymore. It caused me to fall to my knees at work. Since February, I haven’t been able to sit up longer than a couple hours at a time. Standing and walking were limited to occasions that were absolutely necessary. Needless to say, I’ve been off work since February.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten myself to where I can sit up a little longer and walk a little further. To find something to earn income for myself and work around the pain I started selling quilts on Etsy. That venture keeps growing slowly. I thank God for that.
In case you are wondering, I do have a plan. I want to go back to school. Earlier this year I filled out a FAFSA only to find out that I made too much money last year to get financial aid. So, I’m going to wait til I file taxes next year and fill it out again. They’ll go on this years income and I will get financial aid. I’m going to go to American Military University online to get a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. I want to use that degree to either be a Corrections Counselor or a Parole/Probation Officer.
As you could imagine, for someone to get into that particular career field, it would be important to have a clean record. Lately, I’ve been working really hard to keep myself away from situations that could get me into trouble. Also, while in the Navy I learned (the hard way) that appearances are important when it comes to your career. So, while I understand that people do change, I would prefer to find a group of friends with no felonies and no recent jail time. That seems simple. However, it has proven to be a very difficult task. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to ignore everyone with a record. I’m just not wanting to spend the majority of my time around people that are in and out of jail. I’m sorry if that makes me sound mean, but for the first time in my life I’m starting to take care of myself first.
I’ve had this criminal justice dream for quite some time. It’s time for me to start making it come true.
