A Career Student...

Can being a "student" be a career?  Can you make a lifetime out of being a student?  Some would say no, but others would say yes.  I'm in between.  I have gone to school off and on for about thirteen years, however, I've only actually gone to school for roughly five straight years.  I have taken "breaks" in my schooling for various different reasons.  Some, were good reason and other's I thought were good reasons at the time, but looking back, they really weren't.


I have roughly two-possibly three semesters left to finish my bachelor degree.  It's not as if I just quit school, I have stopped for various reasons.  I hate that I stopped after my Associate to work.  I went from a "day-shift" manager to Assistant Manager and with taking on Assistant Manager, I took on more responsibilities and was over-loaded with school too.  I wish now I had continued with school and not taken the Assistant job.  Then, when I left that job, I decided to go back to school, only to stop again because at my new job there were so many more opportunities for my as a Pharmacy Technician.  I went back to school for Pharmacy Technician.  I finished with a 97 and went on to sit for my National Certification exam.  I passed and became a Certified Pharmacy Technician.  Then I became Tricia Richardson, CphT, A.S. (I wasn't married to my husband at the time.)  However, I have never signed my name including my CPhT and well honestly if I did, I still wouldn't include the A.S.

I started back to school last summer in hopes of finishing my Bachelor in Accounting finally.  I even made the Provost's list and I have done outstanding.  However, in February, I was presented with the diagnosis of borderline autism for my son and he was put in speech therapy.  After numerous discussions with my husband and family, it was decided that my Bachelor could wait until after AJ made it to kindergarten because my children and family are my top priority.  I was ok with that decision at first.  But truth be told, I LOVE learning!

As one of my fellow bloggers, friends, has said, "If I could find someone to pay for it, I would keep going to school."  Well, that being said, I did it... I re-enrolled and this time in another medical field.  I am now taking classes to become a Certified Coding Specialist, which is Medical Billing and Coding, and yes does require yet another big exam to become Certified.  I have made a commitment to myself that once I finish this and get yet another certification and make my name even longer, that I WILL finish my Bachelor Degree.  As was said by a good friend, I'm "the most educated unemployed person."  I am unemployed by choice though, I couldn't imagine having all this knowledge and searching for a job.

So, I have officially started the next stage in my life in becoming a career student.  After all, I would rather continue my education in different fields so that in the end, i will be happy with my actual career.  I have a friend that is in the accounting field, but is not happy with her job, it's NOT because Accounting is boring, it's because there's nothing really to do until the end of the month, leaving her extremely bored most of the time, .  Then there's my mom, in the accounting field, who LOVES her job and always has something to do, and that's what I want.  I also know people that "love" their job, but get paid to do nothing because their "job" is actually something that requires no degrees or formal education passed high school.  I want a career where I work and have a purpose and if that requires more education, then so be it.  I LOVE being a mom as there is NOTHING like it, but at some point my children will leave the nest for their own lives and I can't just sit around the house by myself.  On to another chapter.