I realize that I haven't updated for over three months. That usually just means I'm very busy, which is the truth.
I'm working both as a nanny and a tutor. I watch the kid three days a week and tutor my 9th grader a few nights a week.
I'm taking three classes. One meets every other Monday. The second meets every Tuesday, and the third meets every Thursday. I'm keeping up with assignments and papers and expect to get all 'As' again this Fall semester.
I'm also interning at Los Angeles Pierce Community College in the Honors Program office two days a week as part of my graduate school program. I need to complete 150 hours by the end of the semester.
Even though I'm not getting paid a dime for my work at Pierce, I am absolutely in love with the work I'm doing there. I get to meet individually with students and help them develop transfer plans. Most of them want to go to UCLA or CSUN, so I help them navigate the complicated process of picking a major, completing their major prep, keeping their grades up, fulfilling their IGETC requirements, and filling out the application. My background in English has been invaluable in helping them edit their personal statements for the UCs. I've led workshops and I'm co-leading a "Pierce to UCLA Transfer Support Group." I never really thought that I would like academic counseling because it seemed so straight-forward, but at the community college level it is anything but straight-forward. The variety of students is great--they are all in different stages of life; some work full time, some have children, some are married, some are still in high school, etc. The racial and ethnic diversity at the Pierce campus is also refreshing and valuable experience for me. I can honestly say that working at a community college as an academic counselor would be a dream job for me.
The other big news around the Vasquez household is that Fernando got a new job. He left his job as a plumbing salesperson at the Valencia Pacific Sales to take a position as an Assistant Buyer of Plumbing at the Pacific Sales corporate office in Torrance. While this means a significant raise for him, he is also committing to a significant commute to Torrance 5 days a week. It's close to 2 hours of driving each way! He carpools almost every single day, which eases the strain of driving so much and the cost of gas, but he is working under the assumption that after I graduate with my Master's degree in May, we'll be moving closer to Torrance.
The notion of moving to Orange County carries with it many possibilities, but it also comes with problems. The benefits are that Fernando will be closer to his job, and if he lives closer, he'll more likely be able to "climb the corporate ladder" at Pacific Sales. If we live in Orange County, we'll also be closer to Fernando's sister, Melissa. The cons are that we'll be moving away from our parents and most of our family here in Santa Clarita. We'll also have to figure out how to sell our house and find a new home in Orange County. I'll lose all my tutoring and nannying jobs/contacts. While I do hope to find a job that will utilize my new degree, I was hoping to lean on my part-time tutoring and nannying jobs to carry me while I go through the job search process. The market for counseling jobs is really tough.
It seems like there are more cons than pros in this situation, but the truth is that Fernando makes the significant percentage of our income, so moving closer to his work makes more sense. There are many, many schools I can work at in Orange County, and finding a home somewhere in between my job and Fernando's job would be ideal. I'm already poking around job listing websites and getting my resume up to snuff for the job search process. I want to seriously start looking for a job in March--after I take the comprehensive exam required for completion of my Master's, but a few months before graduation.
Thinking about all these upcoming changes kinda gets my head spinning, though, so I'm mostly focusing on completing my internship hours and finishing out my semester strong. My last day of class is on December 16, and then I have more than a month of winter break before Spring semester starts on January 24th. My last semester should be pretty easy, since I'm only taking two classes and doing my second internship at the Multicultural Office at California Lutheran University. I plan to double up my class days with my internship days to ease the commute out to Thousand Oaks. I'm going to continue to nanny for the kid and tutor my ninth grader next semester as well.
I am very much looking forward to the holiday season, although this year will be different without Vincent. We'll all have to work a little harder this year to be merry and bright, but being together will make it bearable.
~LOVE~
