Mixin' it up

Hi! My name's Sam and I'm a first time blogger.  The original intentions I had for this blog was to describe my rough road to realizing the importance of a quality education, which I plan on including in this post and maybe a couple of more but I no longer want to to be the main focus, I mean this is a long semester and I'll save you the reading about being over worked to the point of tears and underpaid to the point where my bank account would literally laugh at me.  So having said that I guess I should tell you what I am going to write about, I've recently discovered my crafty side, it seems to be the only thing that aleviates my stress and makes me feel good since most of the stuff is given away as gifts to my unsuspecting family and friends, and I'll probably talk about them too, they're the glue that holds me together.  I've created alot of stuff ranging from photo collages to bat caves (my nephew has recently discovered bat man and I just couldn't say no to this adorable little man)  

That's Nik and he is the cheese to my macaroni, it's hard to believe that 2 years ago this bald little baby boy stole my heart. Nik's just a small part of my crazy and ridiculously supportive family, I mean they would have to be crazy to be supportive (not happy) of me dropping out of college and taking the news like champions (I told them on Christmas).  I am the first to admit that leaving UNH was not one of my greatest moments but I was a scared, 19 year old kid who just wanted to experience life outside of the classroom, so I did and it was hard. 

Would you like your sub toasted?

If you've ever been asked this question then you know where my first job as a college drop out led me, Quiznos Subs.  That was one of the conditions of moving back home, if I was to make irrational adult decisions well then I was going to work like everyone else.  It wasn't really a difficult job, I think the worst part was slicing the onions oh and admitting that you dropped out of college to be a professional subist.  During my time at Quiznos I was offered another job, waitress.  Which I'll admit was a little better but not by much, it was a hole-in-the wall seafood restaurant so I would leave Quiznos smelling of onions to come home smelling like deep fried fish.  I'll give you a moment to take that in and get over the extreme jealousy of the fabulous life I was leading. 

Are we ready? Good! So it was real world 2, Sam 0,  until my best friend Stacia pulled me out of the food service industry forever and got me a job working with mentally handicapped adults who suffer from substance abuse, I'll start off by saying it was equally the most rewarding job I've ever had and the most heart breaking.  My starting job title was direct support professional, I not only took care of 13 adults I accepted the challenge of teaching them basic living skills ranging from the importance of showering daily to how to use the oven.  There were really good days and then there were really bad days, I became their emotional punching bag, I couldn't help but feel their pain when parents couldn't make a planned visit, I experienced every emotion with them as they went through the inner ping pong battle of to drink or not to drink, and that was my downfall.  I became to emotionally attached, it had become so much more to me than a job, it had not only become my life it started to effect my life.

I became sad, depressed and overwhelmed with feelings that I simply wasn't doing enough to help them.  I became completly consumed and that's when I knew my time with them was done.  I have an unbelievable amount of respect for anyone in the human services field and like I said while it can be incredibly rewarding however, I think becoming emotionally involved with your cases is a huge mistake.  My time with these indivduals is what drove me to go back to school, they were my cheerleaders and even attended my graduation. 

After graduation I found a job in the city where I'm currently a legal assitant/paralegal by day and a student by night.  So that's the short story.  Any one else drop out and find the courage to try again?  What was your this is it moment?