Please expand on what is elderlaw?

My so-called career was almost completely accidental. i was not able to fulfill my prepubescent career dreams of becoming either an animal psychologist or a spy; i did not have the fortitude to try to make it as a stage actor, which is what i wanted in my college days; i took and passed the dga training test thrice, and made it to the interview stage thrice, but was never chosen for the program, so i did not become a film director (which is not what the apprenticeship is supposed to lead to but that was my plan anyway). i did deliberately leave a secretarial job to go work as a book copy editor and that led to my becoming a magazine's associate editor, and that is as close to choosing a career as i ever came. that is not to say i did not love some of the jobs i've had, or that this was my only writing job, either. that's not the same as a career, though. now i am old and disabled. i have no career. i still write. i am too tired to write for a living.

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It doesn't. I put my dreams aside to make other people happy, and now I'm paying for it. I'm also limited in what I can do because of an illness, and I can't afford to go back to school unless I straighten out my finances. And all I get is flack from my family that I'm not trying hard enough.

I was a young mother, and had a husband that had a wandering eye. I was feeling the need to have a job that I could support my kids, have flexible hours, and different shifts. Since I had no job skills, I needed to find a job that paid a decent wage, or needed to get an education. There weren't any jobs like that in my vicinity. There was maybe one McDonald's, and no other places like that to work. ( They had just gotten started, and there wasn't much hope they would succeed). I found out that I could get an associate's degree at the local community college that just opened. One degree was in nursing. I could be an RN in two years, so I registered and got in. I dived into school, staying up late studying after the kids went to bed, and getting to school all day. I found that I really didn't like nursing, but, I figured I didn't have to like it, I just had to do it. Then, I did my OB rotation. I loved it. After that, I did an ER rotation and loved that too. I loved OB more though, and after I graduated, I luckily got a job in a big hospital in labor and delivery. It was all level three trauma center, so as I gained experience, I was a charge nurse, a critical care OB nurse and helicopter transfer nurse. I saw OB emergencies, high risk pregnancies, and took care of OB patients in the ICU. I really loved it. I then read a book called Spiritual Midwifery, written by a lay midwife, and got a desire to be a midwife. I worked in that hospital for eleven years, then moved to Florida to go to midwifery school in Gainsville. I was working in OB there, and cuts in education and health care put me down on the waiting list. I then got an interview from the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark , NJ, so I moved up there and got a nursing job while waiting to get in. I was an alternate twice, but I got in on the third round. So I worked for a total of fifteen years as a nurse, and after I graduated from midwifery school, I worked for twenty years as a midwife. I loved every minute of it. My final ten years of worming was in a community clinic, where I cared for women who were uninsured,or refugees, or immigrants,( legal and illegal), women who are homeless, addicted to drugs and or alcohol, in abusive relationships, and other issues. I loved that job and those women. I retired three years ago, when I was sixty eight years old. It was hard for me to retire. I had delivered a little over a thousand babies, and I wanted to move up to Maine and live on the farm and have some time to myself, do some writing, ride my horse,travel, spend time with my daughter and my friends that I have up here. I miss it a lot, but I really love my life now, so it was time to leave it to the young midwives.

I studied many things at university: philosophy, ancient history, archaeology, anthropology, applied mathematics, computer science, geology, geography, geophysics. I loved them all and couldn't really decide which direction to go in.

One day a geology professor of mine was contacted by a company looking for a geology student who understood computers and databases (this was the late 80's so this combination of skills was still rare). She recommended me, so I went along and ended up getting a summer job. What this company wanted me to do was to figure out this new GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software they had just purchased.

I turned out to really enjoy using this software. It combined a couple of things I was interested in (geography and computer science) and was a tool being used increasingly in many scientific applications I loved as well as commercial industries like retail and insurance. As a result I took some courses in university around GIS and ended up doing a thesis in it as well.

So I have now worked in the geospatial information field for 30 years. I've seen many changes with the mass adoption of GPS technology, sat nav systems, and Google Earth (which finally enabled me to explain to people what I did for a living). I currently work for a drone company - drones have been another massive change for my industry.

I became a teacher because, in my mind, it was a way to stay in school. I quit my first two teaching jobs (much to my parents' dismay), and figured it wasn't for me. After a total comedy of errors, I was offered a third teaching job. This is now my 34th year in the classroom, mostly teaching math to high school students. I love it and my students; there is never a dull moment. I plan on retiring in 4 more years; and I'm sure I'm going to love that too.

I was straight up interested in Psychology, but my dad worked at a correctional facility and I saw the toll it took on him, so I knew Clinical wasn't the path for me and in college focused on the organizational side of things, in hopes that I could work my way into what was, at that time, called Industrial Relations. After I graduated, I found myself putting price stickers on packages and my manager told me getting into HR was unlikely, so I enlisted. I had every intention of getting a commission, but there was a more interesting tour around every corner. I worked as a Russian interpreter for about 10 years, before I became convinced that path was fading and decided to add Serbian, Croatian & Bosnian to the mix, but that was pretty much over by the time I was getting started. Linguists weren't allowed to cross train to other fields, even when their language was one that nobody cared about, which made for predictable conversations with the career counselor, and I started looking at IT as a hobby. Couldn't program for shit and all the admins I knew seemed stuck in unlocking locked machines & setting up email - BORING. I got into networking. After I retired from the Navy, I went back to school, earned a BS in Networking & Communications Management, then started aggressively working my way up the food chain. Now, I'm responsible for maintaining network services for over 40 sites and get to poke around with other emerging technologies. Had a pretty dour outlook on life when I was in the Navy, but now that I'm away from all the Jack Bauer wannabes, I'm more relaxed and enjoying life.

I've put my work history into my profile, so I'm not going to repeat it here (feel free to look). I've always loved those positions where I was asked to develop some system or shift to some technology or make some implementation that didn't exist but was much needed. The low point of my career was working at the corporate HQ of a large cable tv company, now long lost after many rounds of mergers, where working 60 hours a week marked me as a slacker. My favorite job was writing technical doc for a computer software company. The last 13 or 14 years was doing database design and master data management, but the technology passed me by as younger and cheaper talent made itself available - folks who had degrees in things that I had to make up as I went along in the past because nobody was studying it. I've been retired since last October, and that has been very relaxing. To all concerned, especially the younger folks here, compound interest is your best friend, remember that. Right now, I am occupied with helping my 93 year old dad as his sun is setting, and both my kids as their suns are rising. I think I want to get another dog soon. I've had my turn, and I still like to help any who want assistance.

Wow...you're very fortunate!

Compassionate, I admire your drive, compassion...and interest in people. We need more people like that!

I started out in hi behavior group homes, got a BA then an MeD with an emphasis on behavior. Following my ex wife around the country hurt my career in mental health so I got into business.

I like helping small businesses and the freedom, but miss hands on helping people in need. I've volunteered teaching GED off and on for years and will do more of that after I recover from my bicycle accident. I did a little tutoring at risk elementary kids too, maybe that'll be the emphasis for a few years???

The question of whether God exists led me to study philosophy, especially philosophy of religion, and then to become a professor in a southern department of philosophy and religion. I felt "properly placed" there as I could identify with students struggling with this issue while some of the other professors could not.

A wonderful way to get to know each other!

I went to college to study sociology/psychology and graduated with a degree in psychology and with a minor in journalism. I intended to write and research all things mind-related. I worked as a counselor for a few years to familiarize myself with the concerns and needs of a community. It was difficult. My heart sank and I realized I was far too sensitive to detach myself from those I was attempting to help. I lost sleep over it so much that my health began to suffer. After struggling unsuccessfully for quite some time, I went back to school and got an accounting degree. I worked as a finance manager for many non-profit companies over the years. I was also a consultant to new start up business projects helping them to solidify their goals and future endeavors. I still keep in touch with many of these kind folks today!

Eventually, I retired and became the volunteer coordinator for a non-profit. All of my work is now volunteer. I love what I do and the steps I had taken in my past trained me well!

When l got out of the Army, l persue a career in advertising. At 23 l was the advertising director for Woolco department stores in Austin and San Antonio. I worked in radio, outdoor, newspaper, and an agency. Sales was where the money was, but l was never comfortable with sales. My brother started writing and playing music when l was 24 and l had picked the drums back up. About a year later we started getting alot of gigs, and we started playing full time, spending most of the next 20 years on the road. This was what l was meant to do. The money wasn't always good, but the tradeoff was more than worth it. The best decision l ever made.

I am now retired. As a teenager, I swore the last thing in the world I would be would be a teacher. However, I took a competitive exam for a Florida state teacher scholarship just to get out of a day of school and won it. From a poor family that and one other scholarship enabled me to goto college. Later, after I had served in the Army I had the choice of paying back the scholarship or teaching. As I was near broke, I chose teaching.

I tried hard to be a good teacher and loved working with students, but the school and district I was working in was far from a good one. So, I chose a career of improving teaching learning, and leadership in schools an went to graduate school at the U. of Florida in educational leadership and curriculum and instruction. After that I taught in a very good teacher education program at a small college. But, former students of mine in that program told me that they were better prepared for teaching than most, but something about the nature of schools dulled that edge and discouraged them. I I decided that the local of reach educational change was at the local level.

A couple of years later I applied for and won the post of establishing and leading a staff development and school improvement center serving 12 rural districts in Kansas.Over the next decade I designed, implemented, and evaluated a number of programs which did result in significantly better school performance and won state and national recognition. Fro,m there I also served as a district administrator, and center director in other sites.

While in graduate school, I also considered going into law, and was offered a fellowship in international relations , but chose to stay with my focus on school improvement. I am glad I did.

As a young teen lived with my grandfather and father. My grandfather died at home of cancer. He had large wounds from pressure of lying in bed on his hips. The aides and nurses that visited our house never told us that we should turn him or adjust his position in bed to prevent these or keep them from getting worse.
We were not prepared for him to loose his ability to swallow. I felt like he suffered because we didn’t know any better.
I’m a nurse now. I’ve worked 12 years, mostly in ICU and feel great honor in easing pain and educating families, especially at the end of life.