Open Doors

We’ve all heard the saying “When One Door Closes another Opens.”  How we approach that open door varies for each of us, and varies by circumstance.  Some of us don’t wait for the door to open but barge on through anyway.  Some of us forget the door and hop out the open window (Defenestration of Self?).  Some of us stand before the door without ever seeing it before us.

 

In my case, recently, I didn’t know I was standing before an open door at all.  Sometimes all of life’s crazy decisions lead us on a path we don’t recognize until someone points it out to us, even if unknowingly. 

 

Right now, the door that opened for me is a new job opportunity.  The door first cracked open an inch when I was asked to apply, then the door opened completely when I was offered and accepted a position with Altacare/Acadia of Montana as a Mental Health Associate, working with K-12 students at the local public school.  I didn’t even think I could apply for the job because I have no background or experience in mental health. But after some encouragement, I applied anyway and was told that for the Associate position, as long as I’d be willing to learn, previous experience with mental health was not a prerequisite.  At one point the job was explained to me as “You are essentially a teacher. You are teaching kids how to succeed in life.”

 

In considering whether or not to move on to a new job, I thought a lot about where I have come from in my life.  I don’t know where this came from or why it came to me all of a sudden, but I can remember talking to a friend in my college days about the future.  Of course, then the future was a distant constellation of opportunities that would happen…someday.  Now I am among the stars and choosing which to land on.

 

We were on a service trip to Kentucky to build and repair houses.  My friend, Ryan, who was always asking the heavy-hitting questions, asked me, “What do you want to do with your life?”  I remember being struck by it, thinking, Well… I am an Apparel Design and French major, so surely I’ll enter into a career in one or both of those fields, right?  But what I said was, “I just want to help people.”  I knew even then that what gave me the greatest satisfaction was simply helping people.  I remember Ryan’s expression as I said that—thinking he had misjudged me.

 

It’s no secret that I did not enjoy some key aspects of the job I am leaving as a Financial Counselor.  I will, however, miss many of the people I have gotten to know very well over the short two years I was here, and I have learned a lot.  One of the biggest things I learned is how to communicate with people who don’t want to communicate with you.  That is a skill I can take anywhere and will likely transfer in my new job in one way or another.

 

There are some great aspects of my current job that I did truly enjoy that I will be leaving behind.  I liked connecting patients to services that could make it more affordable for them to pay their healthcare bills.  I liked training to be a Certified Application Counselor, to assist people in enrolling for coverage on the new healthcare exchange. Or at least, I liked the idea of it. I am leaving this position before even delving into that. I liked my roll on Wellness Committee and TLC Committee: encouraging workplace health, camaraderie, and well-being for the staff.    But again, the heart of each of these activities and the reason I enjoyed them comes back to a want to simply help people.

 

As I thought back about it, I do have some experience teaching kids. I taught swimming lessons to kids of all ages and abilities when I was in High School.  Upon moving here, I immediately got myself on the Substitute Teacher list for the school.  Then, last spring, I fell in love with Track and Field all over again as I had the wonderful opportunity to be an assistant coach. I’ll certainly lean on what I’ve gleaned from each of these experiences as I begin my new job.

 

I don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing as a Mental Health Associate, or MHA, but I do know a few things.  I will be working with an actual licensed counselor.  I will be working with kids in kindergarten through 12^th grade.  I will be working much closer to home. I will not be behind a computer in an office.  I could be doing anything from assisting in teachers’ classrooms, to recess duty, to group activity therapy sessions with kids, to helping older students learn how to balance a checkbook.  Each day will be different and each day will offer its own challenges and rewards. 

 

I know it was a big surprise to my current employer when I called and gave my notice yesterday.  Today has been a day filled with explanations and long conversations with my supervisor and coworkers.  It’s bittersweet and surreal already, and it’s only the first day of my notice period.  It doesn’t feel like I am leaving yet, even though I know that I am.  Similarly, my new job doesn’t feel real yet—and probably won’t until I am walking into the school on my first day.  Walking through that open door. 

Substitute Teacher

Seems like people around here wear many hats.  With a smaller population, you could say there are fewer resources to draw from, but I think because there are fewer people, the talents of those who are here are given more opportunity to shine.

In addition to my Financial Counselor job in Chester, I am also an occasional substitute teacher at the local high school.  I don't purport to have any skills, talents, or native ability at teaching, and I certainly don't have any training, but that's the beauty of a small town-- any of us who shows an interest can have an opportunity to help.

I offered to add myself to the sub list for North Star Schools back in August, before I knew I would be starting work in Chester three days a week.  At that time, I thought it would be my only source of income, in addition to the farming and ranching Jeff and I have.  Once I started working in Chester in September, the days I was available to sub were reduced to just Mondays and Fridays.  With that, I have subbed four times at the high school.

The first time I subbed was for a Teacher's Aide/Supplemental Instruction teacher.  I basically supervised study hall for 8 periods.  The kids were good and kept to their work for the most part.

The next time, I subbed for the Shop and PE teacher.  That was kind of fun-- I enjoyed leading a few PE classes, and I found Shop to be really interesting, too.  I walked around and touched base with different groups of kids. One group was working on welding, another on deconstructing an engine, and the third was painting a new podium they had built together.  I think at first they thought I was patronizing them by asking questions about what they were doing, but then they seemed to realize that my knowledge for shop-related activities is very minimal, and I was actually genuinely interested.  Once they saw my interest, they were quite enthusiastic to explain what they were doing, which was neat.

The third time I subbed, I was in for one of the Math teachers.  Again, this subject is not at all an area of expertise for me, but this teacher had left assignments for the kids to work on, and for the most part, they were respectful of me and each other.

This past Friday was my fourth sub day. This time I was in the Kitchen.  Yes, I was a lunch lady!  I spent my morning frosting maple donuts for breakfast, then filling small cups with peanut butter and salsa, to be used at lunch.  I also prepped the salad bar. Then, it was lunch time and the rest of my shift was spent washing dishes.  I usually enjoy cooking, so it was interesting to see what cooking on a much larger scale would be like.  The best part of my day, however, was when the kids would return their trays to be watched.  Almost all of them said Thank You when placing their trays on the counter.  I really appreciated how courteous they were!  I said You're Welcome and Have a Good Afternoon to as many of them as I could on their way out the door.

I have been thinking a lot about my job in Chester lately. It's certainly not going to be viable in the long run. So, I am already thinking of different occupations I can have, and maybe it's enough to just be on the farm, helping out.  Additionally, subbing is giving me great insight into whether or not I may want to get a teaching degree and work at the school.  At this point, we are liking what little income I get from my job as well as the health benefits that come with it, but it's never too early to look toward the future.

Weekend Update

It has been a while since my last post, so I'll try to just give an update on what has been going on in our lives.

Friday--  I had my first day as a substitute teacher at the high school in Rudyard.  Unlike in larger school districts, you don't need any sort of certification to be a substitute up here.  I was in the Resource Room, mostly monitoring Study Hall periods.  I read my book and shushed students when necessary.  I realized I hadn't even been IN a high school anywhere since I had graduated in 2002... lots of memories came to mind, to say the least!

After my time at the school was done, Jeff and I got in the car and drove to Bozeman for the weekend.

Saturday-- Bobcat Football.  The Bobcats are having a great season and are ranked third in the nation for their level of play.  The games are exciting and fun, and it's always awesome to see friends and family!!!

That night we sort of crashed a wedding.  To be fair, we were invited, and we did bring a gift... but we definitely got there AFTER the ceremony and the meal were already over.  Nevertheless, it was fun to dance the night away for a little while anyway!

Sunday-- Watched a lot of football and spent time with friends.  Not much to say other than it was excellent!

Monday-- Jeff and I drove home from Bozeman by way of Billings to look at an air drill, which is a large farm implement used for seeding wheat and other crops.  We *may* be considering purchasing an air drill in the near future, but who knows, really.  It was interesting to be on the buying end of a sales pitch.  Jeff asked a lot of great questions and is now deliberating with his dad whether or not this particular air drill should be ours.

Tuesday (Today)-- work work work!  After my busy weekend, I feel like I need a day off already.  Crazy how being gone can be both restful and tiring at the same time... Oh well.  Who am I to complain? My 'work week' is only three days long...

Will try to post something more interesting soon! Also, if anyone ever has any requests for topics or questions about farming/Hi-Line, etc. just ask!

Consolidations

Someday, we will have two choices of school systems for our kids.  They will either go to school in Rudyard, and be North Star Knights, or they will go to school in Chester and be C-J-I Hawks.  Both these districs are consolidations of smaller communities.  North Star is comprised of the communities of Rudyard, Hingham, Gildford, and Kremlin; Chester, Joplin, and Inverness send their children to C-J-I.

Before this most recent round of consolidations, there were more choices for schools.  Rudyard and Hingham were together-- the Blue Sky Eagles.  Kremlin and Gildford were the K-G Kougars.  Joplin and Inverness were the Rams, and Chester was on their own-- the Coyotes.  My husband graduated from J-I, and his little sister was in the last high school graduating class for the Rams. Her husband was a Blue Sky Eagle.  

Before these pairs of towns came together to form school districts, each community had their own individual school system.  My father-in-law was an Inverness Cardinal.  My landlord and some of our other closest neighbors were Rudyard Panthers.

It is the nature of small towns to band together and consolidate public services.  Schools combine in an alphabet soup of acronyms.  Do their fans get confused over which animal or mascot to cheer for, as they make the switch from a jungle cat to a medieval warrior?

There is a lot of talk right now about a new round of consolidations, and it's not the schools.  The United States Postal Service has been losing money annually, due to modern communication services like email and Facebook, and competition on package handling services from FedEx and UPS.  Larger towns will not likely notice any difference in a few positions being cut at the Post Office, but in our small towns, each town only has one Post Office and is only staffed by one Post Master.  It's these small towns where rumors are flying that their Post Offices will no longer be available to serve the community-- they will be closed.

As it is, we patronize the Post Office in Inverness, but that is one that is likely to be shut down.  How will they consolidate postal services?  Will it follow school district lines? Or will it be an even broader move-- post offices only in Havre or Chester?  For now, we will wait and see.