When Mr. Sykes EAS's from the Marines in March of 2013 he is going to be going back to school. That means that I am going to be solely responsible for our family's income. If you can put that kind of responsibility on yourself without having to prevent yourself from throwing up then kudos to you. When I realized this I practically sh*t my pants.
Sure, I'll have my bachelor's degree complete by the time Mr. Sykes even comes home from this deployment. That in no way means I am ready or even capable of tackling a career. I have never been able to keep a job. I have trouble staying with something that I don't really enjoy or I'm not very good at. Alright I'll just say it. My work ethic SUCKS.
I know that most people get jobs so they can support themselves or their families no matter what it is, as long as it pays. I can't do that. I want to be able to but I don't think I could ever do that.
You might be wondering why I would get a bachelor's degree I didn't want. Well it's simple. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I started college and business sounded like the best route for me. I have my associates in liberal arts so I dipped my feet in lots of different types of courses. Business always stood out to me. Well, now that I realized all of the other awesome career possibilities that are out there a business degree seems boring. It's not useless though. It's a great degree to have. I just don't see myself being a manager of any sorts.
What I really want to do is become a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer. A fancy way of saying an ultrasound technician. I want to work with pregnant ladies and share in the wonderful experience of being pregnant. Apparently there are several ways of going about accomplishing this.
I can find a college that offers an associates or bachelors in diagnostic medical sonography. There are also colleges that offer a certificate program but as far as I've read you can only apply for that if you have another degree in a medical related field. Some colleges even offer these degrees or programs online but there are limitations with these as well, from what I understand anyways.
I really wanted to be able to do a certificate so that I would be able to complete it before Mr. Sykes was out of the Marines. I don't think it would be possible to do an associates degree in that time.
I had Abigail's hip ultrasound today, just routine for babies born breech, so I asked the ultrasound tech what I had to do to become one. She told me that I could either get an associates,bachelors degree or certificate in it or have a bachelors degree in anything else and just do the clinical hours.
I would love the last option of just doing the clinical hours but I think I must have understood her wrong. It just doesn't seem like it could be that simple.
If anyone has ANY information that would help me out PLEASEEE send it my way. If I have to just get my associates I'll do that once he is out of the military but I really want to be trained in something specific that I'll actually enjoy so that I won't be so damn nervous about being financially responsible for our family.
I honestly don't know how anyone does it. I guess it might be rewarding once I get over this extreme fear and anxiety. In order for that to happen I really need to become an ultrasound technician.
I work at a community college so I know a bit about sonography but am not an expert. From what I know, you can only "just do the clinical hours" or do a short program if you already have a degree in the medical field. However getting an associates degree would be a relatively short process for you since you have ALREADY done general education courses... you have essentially completed a third of the degree with your bachelors. I am not sure where you live but check out this link http://www.tcc.edu/academics/divisions/healthprofessions/dms/. Though not all programs will be the same, I assume that they will have a lot of similarities. You can also shoot for a certification called an RDMS (Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer). However to pass that exam you will have had to complete training at an associate degree level. Good luck!!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband got out of the Marines last August and when using the G.I. BILL he gets SGT rated BAH in the city of where his school is and he also has a part-time job to help with expenses. I work full-time with my degree and make 36k a year and we make it just fine. I think you can do it, plus you have just under 2 years to get it figured out.
ReplyDeleteDon't stress about it yet. Just start saving so you have a decent amount is savings, your emergency fund and try to pay off as much of your debt right now as you can. Setting yourself up for security is the hard part. Everything else will fall into place!
Thank you so much! I will check out that site.
ReplyDeleteWe are working on paying everything off right now. The only good thing about deployments is the extra money for savings and paying off debt. Thanks for sharing, you eased my mind a little bit. But I'm a natural worrier lol.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I have been flirting with the same idea! I have always wantd to work in the medical field but I cannot do the whole blood and guts thing... so I wanted to be an ultrasound technician. I started t do research on the programs but life has gotten so busy that is sadly has fallen by the wayside.
ReplyDeleteIf Ryan's re-enlistment goes through and we move I may be going back to school for this. It has something we've talked a lot about. If I see anything or find out anymore information I will be sure to send it your way!
I second everything A Little Bit of Me says! I was gonna tell you the same exact thing :)
ReplyDeleteI will be in the same boat as you when my husband gets out (in 2014). He plans on going back to school, while I'm in school right now. I'm going for my BA (maybe Masters) in Criminology and hopefully will find a job after graduation, but you never know! Don't worry though, as someone already mentioned his schooling will be completely covered and you will still receive BAH so you should be able to cover all your basic bills. You sound like you're doing all the right things though, we too are trying to save as much as we can right now. Just remember you have to go to your job every day, so make it something you love!
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