Mental Health Worker

Prologue – This story summarizes MS’ second career. To understand why she changed her career path, see the story of her first career: “Social Work – Mental Health”

LONG TERM OBSERVATION OF A TEACHER LEADS TO A CAREER CHANGE

About halfway into her first school year as a plug-in mental health worker, MS realized that teachers who had the opportunity to spend extended, intense time with students had a greater impact upon the learning and lives of those students, than she could achieve as a mental health worker spending far less time with her students. 

Then, as often happens, one random event became the “tipping point” to alter her career path from mental health to education. While seated in a math class with several of her students, MS concluded that she could present the math concepts to her students in a more informative way. “So that’s what I’m going to do…. be a teacher!” thought MS to herself. She smiled and knew that she was already looking forward to returning to a classroom but next time, in the front of the classroom rather than as an observer from the back of the room. 

CAREER TRANSITION – NOT EASY BUT KEEP THE GOAL IN MIND

So, you want to become a teacher but you didn’t focus on college courses toward that career path? For MS, her investigation of the path forward led to two options: (1) return to college to take – and do well in – basic education courses; this would likely require taking an additional 12 academic course hours over several (likely two to three) years while she worked somewhere at something else to cover her basic living expenses; or (2) enroll in a Masters in Education program, provided she could find one which would require minimal new pre-requisite courses before commencing her Masters Degree classes, which could all be completed in far less than several years so she need not be unemployed for too long. 

MS preferred option (2) over option (1) but her first choice among several Masters Degree programs (this one offered a Masters Degree after only ten consecutive months of classes) at first discouraged her application, noting that MS didn’t have all the pre-requisite courses for admission to any Masters in Education program. MS was disappointed but undaunted, politely explaining to the Masters admission officer that unlike probably most of their other applicants, MS had real world experience within actual schools, working with actual students and thus could – if enrolled as a Masters Degree student – share her valuable classroom and counseling experiences with her Masters Degree classmates.  The admissions officer listened intently and within two days, offered an option to satisfy both their admissions process and this applicant’s obvious determination: if MS would promptly take 2 specific education courses on-line and then two more while her Masters classes were underway, the University would admit her now and she would then be sufficiently qualified to begin student teaching at the elementary level and eventually (upon completion of all four on-line courses) qualified to student teach within any grades 1-12. 

A final bonus provided by this wise admissions office: a partial but significant, tuition scholarship! (The tuition balance would be covered by a student loan; fortunately, by sharing a residence and working part-time during weekends, MS was able to support herself financially during her ten month Masters Degree program.)

FIRST JOB – RARELY AN IMMEDIATELY SUCCESSFUL  VENTURE

Now armed with both a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts and a Masters Degree in Education, each from well-regarded universities, MS assumed that finding a full time teaching job would be relatively easy. Not so! Living just outside a big city and being somewhat knowledgeable about urban life advantages (vibrant and diverse life-styles, amazing restaurants, museums, pro sports teams) and disadvantages (crime, homelessness, poverty, traffic, some scary schools), MS decided to wait no longer for an employment offer through the urban school district’s mandatory central teacher application process, deciding instead, to schedule interviews directly with Principals in two schools which she thought could be good and safe opportunities to start her teaching career, at least from outward physical appearances of those schools and what little she knew of their local neighborhoods. 

(Editor’s note – Taking matters into your own hands, such as bypassing a required procedure, may be a good option if the individual is willing to assume the risk of being penalized if caught; would being caught foreclose all options? MS concluded that she wanted to control some of her important circumstances and if caught, she would still have other options within other school districts; plus, there was nothing illegal in pursuing a direct employment interview.) 

Luckily for MS, she was offered job interviews directly with each school Principal almost immediately. Before the first interview, she noted poorly maintained school playgrounds and within the school’s interior no better conditions. Upon being offered a job there, she asked for a day to consider it, hoping to find a better facility and opportunity at the other school the next day, where she was offered – and immediately accepted – a job as a math intervention teacher for grades K through 8. 

In retrospect, MS realizes that she should have accepted the first school’s teaching opportunity to be a math teacher for one grade level, rather than within all 12 grades. And she had only seen the first floor of the second school, which turned out to be in worse shape than the school of her first job offer! (Editor’s note – If an employer is so eager to hire on the spot, the offer would probably not be withdrawn if the prospective employee asked to see the entire facility where the work would occur.)

JOB CHALLENGE – PHYSICAL THREATS

MS’ teaching career at the large urban school lasted for 10 weeks, during which time, while attempting to maintain minimal classroom discipline, she was threatened with physical harm and death on numerous occasions by middle school age students who were often bigger than she was. And remember that MS was not afraid to wrestle young adults of her approximate size to the ground when necessary to control mental health related outbursts for the protection of the student, which had not previously been needed for her own self-protection. 

During her final several weeks at that school, MS was crying during her daily commute to the school, trying to motivate herself to enter the building and teach while maintaining some degree of student behavior discipline and literally survive until the end of the school day. Finally, one day her anxiety was so overwhelming that she resigned on the spot, with zero advance notice to the Principal, who had no doubt experienced such untimely resignations before. 

LOOKING FORWARD, NOT BACKWARD

MS was concurrently disappointed in herself but also emotionally relieved by her decision to resign. In discussing the situation with her family, she heard them say: “We love you and we support your decision, which had to be made to preserve your personal safety. One teacher cannot change society, especially not immediately. No one is required to work in constant and significant fear.” MS appreciated this advice and tried her best to think positively about her future by taking immediate action to secure a different teaching position in a less stressful, more supportive teaching environment. 

LUCK (?) FACTORS INTO A JOB OPPORTUNITY

When MS called a nearby suburban school district office to inquire about possible immediate openings for substitute teachers, they sympathized with her circumstances and fortunately were able to promptly offer substitute teaching opportunities on a daily basis, which MS accepted over the next two weeks until she located a full-time substitute teaching job through contacting her former high school swim team coach (coincidentally also a teacher), who recommended her to the district superintendent who coincidentally remembered meeting MS during a recent job fair. (Editor’s comment – Note the importance of presenting yourself constantly as a hard worker – in school and/or in a sport – and then having an age appropriate, mature personality which interacts well with adults. MS’ circumstances leading to this job opening is yet another example of “Luck” which is “Hard work and preparation meet unexpected opportunity.”)

CAREER CHALLENGE – LIKELY DIM OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVANCEMENT

MS enjoyed the literal safety of her full-time substitute teaching days. She also enjoyed the wide variety of coursework and students she worked with during the next few months. But like the time it took for her to appreciate the positive impact of a teacher upon students, it took MS awhile to realize that the classroom aide with whom she was now working in this wonderful suburban school district, had been stuck in that same position for the past six years, waiting patiently for an opening for a full-time teaching position. Was the delay due to some flaw within that individual or was it solely due to lack of position openings within that school district? Could MS possibly find the truth and if she found it, would it be encouraging news? MS concluded that her best option to secure a permanent teaching position was to apply to yet another area school district, where she hoped to find a safe environment and students who would be open to her teaching and caring about them as people.

FOREIGN OPPORTUNITY PRECEDES AN UNPROMISING INTERVIEW

While investigating teaching opportunities in other districts, MS learned of an opportunity to teach for a summer in China. Why not experience a foreign country while concurrently applying for a new job back in her well known, home area? So she did. A book could be written about MS’ experience in China but the relevant point for this career story is how her inteviews for stateside jobs moved ahead – by phone – from China where, at the time and likely now, all calls are monitored by Chinese government security agencies. Suffice to say that for her first three, long distance interviews, MS was her usual, enthusiastic, hopefully persuasive self but no job offers were received. For her third, long distance telephone interview, MS was uncharacteristically pessimistic about her chances to land this job so she was not promoting her usual, optimistic, ” can do” personality. 

Ironically, this third job interview was followed by a job offer! Thus, another example of “Luck” whereby MS’ hard work and dedication as reflected within her written resume, equaled sufficient preparation to meet opportunity. 

MS promptly accepted the offer from her third “overseas” interview since it involved teaching 7th grade math to only four classes daily, each for 90 minutes, thus providing adequate class time for innovative warm-up, the day’s new math lesson and finally, review and practice. For the next five school years, MS enjoyed her teaching responsibilities, which routinely included informal counseling with her students regarding real-life issues and conferring with parents, whose interest and support were not always positive. But overall, this was career satisfaction – until it wasn’t. 

CAREER CHALLENGE – UNFAIR COMPARISONS OF JOB PERFORMANCE

Following her fifth year of teaching, after MS had achieved tenure status, she and her fellow teachers began to experience increasing pressure from school administrators to incorporate into their teaching curriculum, various mandates imposed by the Federal and State Departments of Education, passed down to the local school districts and eventually through school Principals into the classrooms. (One example: statewide student testing with teachers’ performance reviews significantly affected by the results, despite widely different students’ family and cultural backgrounds.)

CAREER SATISFACTION

More than five years earlier, as a Mental Health Social Worker within a different school district, MS had the opportunity to observe, over several months, the positive impact of teachers upon the learning and lives of students since teachers were working with their students on an extended, daily basis during the ten month school year. While MS had been glad to assist the students she was working with for their emotional issues, she believed she could have a more significant impact with them as a teacher who could address both their needs to learn and control their behavior. During her subsequent five years as a teacher, MS’ belief turned into reality, which was confirmed when many students tearfully said goodbye and best wishes at the end of each school year. 

EPILOGUE

A change in school administrators who were more restrictive with the teachers, plus new government regulations affecting what could and should be taught, combined to diminish MS’ enthusiasm for teaching, which had turned into almost an equal time division between teaching and social work. Concurrently, MS was undergoing physical therapy to treat various injuries incurred during her “CrossFit” sessions (extreme exercise, pushing the limits of strength and endurance) which she had undertaken in part to relieve the stress of managing several consecutive classrooms each day, of more than two dozen teenagers. 

While closely observing her physical therapist in action, MS began to appreciate the advantage of being able to work ‘one on one’ with an individual, rather than one on 28. So, she investigated the path to becoming a licensed physical therapist and in the Spring, applied to several local p.t. programs for enrollment. She was accepted by all the university p.t. programs to start in the Fall and proceed for the next three years.

Meanwhile, to serve as an informal internship for physical therapy to make sure she would like this new career path, MS found summer employment as a physical therapy aide – for minimal wages – within a hospital’s lung transplant unit, where MS immediately enjoyed the one-on-one therapy relationships with patients as they were recovering from their complex transplant procedures. The first time MS was able to assist a patient to stand, walk to a window and then return to his chair, she immediately called her family to say how pleased and excited she was to be helping someone this way! 

This Editor looks forward to following MS’ next career journey and after she completes a few years as a physical therapist, adding her third career story to this collection.