Education Part 2

Thank you Sarah, Alecia, Debby and Lana for your comments! Since this is more interesting than I thought, I will continue my "how I got where I am post." I will back it up a little to BYU graduation. I graduated in December 1999. As mentioned I graduated with a major in psychology and a minor in business. I knew I wanted to go to graduate school and figured it would probably be an MBA; I was very interested in doing something in human resources. But, I wanted to take some time off and figure out exactly what to do next. So, I went back to Winter Haven. While searching for a full-time job, I signed up with a temp agency and did a little bit of office work with them. If I recall, I did one two-week assignment before getting hired by Marta. I also interviewed with Publix and Manpower (a temp agency). The Publix job was in payroll and not really something I was interested in doing. The Manpower job was working in one of their offices and screening people for temporary jobs, like the one I'd done. I was really interested in that one. They both offered me the positions and I can remember wanting to take the Manpower job. It was the promise of a career, they would train me and it seemed like a good start with human resources. I am not sure why I chose the social work with Marta route. But, I did.

I was still debating between MBA and law school, although after working a bit in the courts, I was leaning toward law school. I decided to see how I did on the LSAT and let that decide. When I got my score back and realized I could go to a good school, it was decided. My dream school was Duke, but I got waitlisted, then rejected. I already talked about deciding on W&L, so we'll skip to there. 

My interested was piqued by my brief foray into social work and children's services. Therefore, I thought I would end up doing something like Adoption law, or even working for the Department of Children and Families. I met Thomas my first year and he was very interested in the Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corp (JAGC). When the Navy came to our school to discuss opportunities, I went with him to the presentation. And, I was sold! It sounded so fun and interesting. I liked the idea of getting in the courtroom right away and serving my country. We decided we would both apply. Most people think you just sign up, but it is actually very competitive. I think the selection rate is around 5% now (a little higher when we applied, but still less than a 10% acceptance rate). We had to jump through a bunch of hoops, taking physicals and driving to Norfolk to interview with a senior JAGC officer.

Our interviews got off to a very rocky start when we were denied base access because I didn't have proof my car was registered. I always put the sticker on my plate, but didn't know I was supposed to keep the paper. Whoops! I still remember the pass and ID employee shaking his head and incredulously saying, "and you want to be a JAG?!?!?!" Someone from the office came to pick us up and I guess it didn't hurt our chances any, because we both got in. 

We did the JAGC for 6 years. We weren't sure if we wanted it to be a career, but once we had the kids, we didn't really want to keep moving around. We had 3 kids in 18 months and when it came time to apply for "career status" we didn't want to commit. It was kind of a rough time in our lives and not the best time to make life-altering decisions. But, we had decided to get out at the 4 year mark. Then, they offered us a good opportunity in Millington, TN. It was perfect for our family. We loved it there! But, after that, we needed to get out. Thomas was really interested in joining the FBI and I wanted some time to stay home with the kids. 

We knew we wanted to stay with a government job for the work/life balance. But, other than that--we were completely open. Thomas applied to jobs all over. He got an interview with the Navy Office of General Counsel (OGC) in Southern Maryland and drove out for the interview. It was a 16-hour drive and the fact that he went in person really impressed the interviewers. They told him there were people an hour away who opted for a phone interview. We were slated to get out of the Navy on September 30th. They offered him the job on his birthday, July 23rd. It was definitely a huge weight lifted. Although, right after he accepted, he got offered an interview for a job he was really excited about. But, he decided a bird in the hand was better and since he had already accepted the MD job, he turned down the interview (the FBI called him a full year later to interview, we were already settled in Maryland!).

So, we moved to Maryland. We did the Reserves for 4 more years, which allowed us to meet the 10 year service requirement to transfer the GI Bill to our kids. I probably would have stayed in, as it was nice to have a part-time weekend job. But, I didn't want to deploy and with Thomas working full-time and then us both giving up time on the weekends, it started to take its toll. So, we got out.

I went back to work full-time when Luke was 3.5. It was nice to have the 6 years at home, but I am happy with the decision to be back at work, especially now that the kids are a little older. In a perfect world, I would have waited until Luke started Kindergarten, but once I left the Reserves, I lost my ties to the working world. I knew it would get harder and harder to find a position, the more remote my work experience (and references) became. 

That's the full story. Looking back at it now, I see there were lots of forks in the road where things could have gone completely differently. What if I had taken the job at Manpower? What if I had gone to W&M? What if we stayed in the military? What if Thomas didn't apply to the MD job? What if I hadn't gone back to work when I did? So many opportunities for our lives to be completely different!