Ten Years Ago..............

I graduated from college with a B.S. in Elementary Education on May 16, 1998. The previous year was the worst year in my life. In the six short months between March of '97 and September '97, I lost the love of my life (he decided he couldn't be what I needed), my dog had to be put to sleep and my dad died. It was horrible! So in May 1998, not having a teaching job lined up and honestly not feeling prepared to teach, I went back to the familiar..........back home to live with my mother and back to my summer job cashiering at Wal-Mart. This was supposed to be temporary, a year tops! Well, ten years later here I am.. :( Once I found an actual teaching position nearby in 2001 (instead of being an aid or a sub), it was only considered 7/10ths. That means I went home at 1:30 instead of 2:40 and made $12,000 less because of it. So I keep the cashiering job, but I went to Saturdays only. My plan was to quit as soon as I got tenure (which means jobs security in teaching). Tenure was supposed to arrive in October 2006.....the pink slip arrived in April 2005. I was very glad I kept the cashier job because I could not find another teaching job for the next year so I worked at Wal-Mart full-time. Finally after deciding to go back to part time and sub 30 miles away where I would be paid for my Master's degree ($95 a day instead of $45), I received a call about a teaching assistant position open four blocks from my house. Needless to say, I took it. But health insurance is not provided and there's no regularity in the paychecks (no pay in summer, small checks in December and during Spring Break), so I'm still stuck at Wal-Mart!



I'm tired of working six days a week! I can't count how many things I've missed because I spend nearly every Saturday of my life at Wal-Mart. In order to get the day off, I have to put in for it at least 4 weeks in advance. I could switch with someone, but no one wants to give up a Saturday off. I'd like to have a normal weekend, but I can't stand the thought of going in to work there after 6 1/2 hours with pre-schoolers either! I tried to change my availablity to 6 am until 8 pm. I was told I had to be available 16 hours a week. Ok, I changed it back to 6 am to 10 pm. I've been there nearly 10 years and they still schedule me nights?? That is so wrong when the people that just start get 8-5 shifts! Plus, I'm starting to get carpel tunnel from constant scanning and I'm bored out of my mind......I could do this job in my sleep, and sometimes I do when I have to work until 11 pm!

At the school where I work, a teacher will be retireing in 2009. I've heard that the pre-k teacher I work for want to take her position. I'd like to have the pre-k position. With my years of experience and Master's degree, I would make twice as much teaching as I made last year working both jobs (and that includes teaching summer school and covering a maternity leave). I just don't know if I can tolerate Wal-Mart for another year. Maybe I'll start using my personal hours and schedule a Saturday off a month. I'm just pray for the day when I can walk away from there and have my Saturdays back!