I've been awake since 3am. It's now 10am. I don't sleep much. How do you think I catch all the Sleep Talking Jay tidbits? I'm one of those people who doesn't have any trouble falling asleep, I can't stay asleep. I can't shut my brain off.
I rethink/over think/pre-think everything and anything on top of worrying about anything & everything. I think about how I should have handled something. I think about things that bother me or have hurt me. I think about how things should be, well how I would like things to be anyway. Needless to say, with being unemployed, I don't get a lot of sleep. That's why I've been up for 7 hours already. Anyway.....
I'm loving the Career Center. I've met a lot of nice people, including Windy. He's grown on me. We all seem to help each other learn. I especially like Dorothy, the teacher, a lot. She's just wonderful. I've noticed a few things about the Career Center though.
There isn't enough of Dorothy to go around. There are some student helpers in the class but it's still not enough. There are a couple of people learning to read, write & speak English. Dorothy is helping others get ready for the GED exam. Then there are people learning computer type "stuff". It's as basic as learning to use a computer because some people don't even know how to do that to people like me who are brushing up on regularly used programs & learning new programs. But I also noticed something else yesterday....
I sat next to a woman who usually sits a couple of computers away from me. We have assigned work stations, because folders are set up for us. I'm not going to mention her name just because it isn't necessary. As we were talking, mostly her, I realized that her self confidence is non-existent. I know how it feels to lose a job. I know what it's like to feel worthless. The difference, and it maybe it has to do with being younger, but I know it will get better. Yes, I have had my "funks" and I still do. But I haven't let it beat me down. In talking, I believe that is what happened to her. I believe that is what has happened & still happening with people who have lost their jobs. So instead of working on my program, I spent the time helping her....and talking.
I showed her how to log on to a website & search for a job. I helped her apply for a job by helping her write a cover letter, explaining that her email doubled as a cover letter. I showed her how to use her flash drive. I showed her how to organize her email better. She asked me to teach her how to text, her kids don't want her to know how, but she feels she should so I helped her with that. All the while we talked. She kept telling me she feels so lost & confused. I know that has to do with her confidence level. I told her that no matter what, she's not going to ruin anything, sometimes mistakes happen, but everything is fixable. She just has to try. To keep trying and to never stop trying.
She was in really good spirits when she left for the day. Pat (Windy) told me it was really nice that I helped her. Ironically, 2 days before that, I was helping him with PowerPoint & he said he learned more in the time with me than he did on his own. When I was done with what I was doing I asked Dorothy if I could talk with her for a few moments.
Possibly a little ballsy on my part, but I wanted to talk with Dorothy about the Career Center and if they had anything in place to help with self confidence & basic skills in preparation of applying/getting jobs. Let me digress for a moment......
I figured out a long time my purpose on this earth is to help people. I just haven't know in what capacity. It's now starting to present itself to me. I knew way back, when I worked in the group home my purpose. As staff, we each were a Primary Mentor to one kid in the group home. The first one I had felt she was entitled to have me buy things for her & she'd be nice to me. Guess what? That didn't work out so well. She eventually ran away & I was assigned a new girl. We did fun things together but we also did important stuff too. I would take her to get applications for jobs & help her fill them out & helped her follow up on them. We would have important talks. She was preparing to go back home to live with her mom, but she didn't get along with her step dad. I told her to have a talk with him about finding some peaceful agreement, that they both loved her mom. They talked and when she went home, everything was working out great.
I've always thought about how well she did. It also occurred to me that there are things not learned in any school. Nothing in place to help confidence and self esteem. So that's what I talked with Dorothy about. I have some ideas and I shared them with her. Do you know what she told me? She told me to write out how things could be presented & discussed in a tactful way!!! Me!!! I'm rather excited! This will be good for me for a lot of reasons.
Now, I'm off to start writing out all of my ideas and suggestions!!! Stay tuned!!!!
:)
