Part 5 — A Lesson Learned Twenty Years Later
At eighteen, my mom encouraged me to start at community college before going into film. I didn’t enjoy that idea. It felt like a waste of time. Now, after having had the conversations I did this summer, with twenty years and 15+ years of work experience later, I understand what my mom was trying to convey to me.
The big questions a teen faces at the precipice of graduation are:
What are you going to do with your life?
What are you going to do with this degree?
As if they know. Maybe some do; I posit that many don’t, so they go to school and figure it out.
If I go back to school, it won’t be to feed the system the way it felt at eighteen. It’ll be to get skilled at transferable disciplines — business, communications — specifically because I’m already doing it, have been doing it, and see the value of these things across a variety of organizations.
As I saw this peer support specialist portion of my work coming to an end, I was made aware of some organizational development, administrative and director-level roles that will be great for me to helm.
I worked the remaining days I said I would after giving my notice, and I sent a farewell email to everyone I could think of.
Leadership and a few staff put together a small going-away lunch for me and another peer support specialist who was heading off on his own next thing. A handful of residents made me cards and artwork. There were hugs. Staff made it clear they didn’t want us to go. The Administrator called me one night to mention that a new facility would be opening in early 2027, and that he’d keep me in the loop in case something there ended up being a fit.
