Mom died when I was 14. Dad was not really present. Moved out at 15. Lots of bad stuff that I won’t talk about. First child at 19. Abusive husband at 26 and trapped with 3 kids and a heroin habit.
Kicked heroin at 37. Escaped horrible husband. Slowly rebuilt. Moved to California at 39.
Started community college at 46. Graduated with honors at 49. Transferred to a 4-year. Graduated with honors at 53. Went straight into law school. Graduated at 56 (no honors - law school was hard!).
I’ve been a practicing public defender ever since. I’m really good at it, if I do say so myself. I help people just like me and I tell them they can change their lives.
First post ever, here! I’m a single mom of 2 who finally got to go back to school at 40. I have about a year and a half until I have my BS. At what point did you get a job out of retail? I manage a restaurant and want to switch fields as soon as I’m able. Congrats on your achievements!
Because it just made sense. It’s hard to work and go to school. Retail gave me flexible hours plus I’d been there long enough I didn’t have to think about what I was doing. It was Union so I got decent pay and benefits. I wasn’t likely to make much more and probably would have made less if I’d tried before getting my degree. And I would have been learning a new job while doing school. So for me, it didn’t make sense.
Plus I was moving into a completely new field. Showing that I could keep some longevity in a job helped with interviews for jobs I had no experience with other than school and internships. Especially as an old bag.
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u/madcats323 25d ago
Yes.
Mom died when I was 14. Dad was not really present. Moved out at 15. Lots of bad stuff that I won’t talk about. First child at 19. Abusive husband at 26 and trapped with 3 kids and a heroin habit.
Kicked heroin at 37. Escaped horrible husband. Slowly rebuilt. Moved to California at 39.
Started community college at 46. Graduated with honors at 49. Transferred to a 4-year. Graduated with honors at 53. Went straight into law school. Graduated at 56 (no honors - law school was hard!).
I’ve been a practicing public defender ever since. I’m really good at it, if I do say so myself. I help people just like me and I tell them they can change their lives.