2018 was Kiran’s year to start school.  Looks like 2019 is my year to go back to school.  Although I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, I have never really done anything with it, per se.  I would argue it helped me tremendously with my nannying career and currently helps my parenting skills (a little), but no clear-cut career path has ever presented itself.

For a long time now – at the very least, the past year, I have been thinking about what I want to be when I grow up.  The life I long-envisioned is not the life I live currently, so it is important for me to pursue a job I am passionate about, make decent money, have the opportunity for decent health insurance (for Kiran, mostly), and be flexible enough that I can be present as Kiran’s mother the way I want to be.

It’s funny.  As a professional nanny for nine years, I always shied away from working with any family with non-typical children.  And suddenly, it’s become my life’s passion to work with non-typical children.  After much hemming and hawing over which type of therapy professional I wanted to become (Occupational Therapist, Special Education Consultant, and Speech-Language Pathologist were at the top of my list of considerations), I decided to apply to college.  For the second time in my life.  The last time I was in college?  THIRTEEN YEARS AGO.  (I am old.)

Late last night, I decided to check the mail.  I’m not sure why, because I wasn’t actually expecting a response from the admissions office just yet.  They only received my transcript, completing my application, last Thursday.  But lo and behold, an envelope arrived from University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.

I’m in.  I will start taking classes, studying Communication Sciences and Disorders, this summer!  Honestly, I think speech therapy “won” because I want to be able to communicate with my son.  I want to be able to give him – and other children like him – a “voice”, however that looks.  And I want to be as educated and prepared as I can be, to help him succeed, to help our relationship, to help other families enmeshed in the heartache I am currently experiencing.

It’s going to be a long road.  It always is.  But I have taken the first step.  College bound!  (Well, not really, the classes are all online.)