Years ago when I was in college studying to be a registered dietitian, I never dreamed I would work in a clinical setting. And when most people think of a dietitian they think of a lab coat adorned hospital dietitian. I had no desire to step foot in something so sterile and uncreative as a hospital although I knew it would be something I had to endure in graduate school. My goal was to get my registration and continue my master's degree in food science. After all, food is the best aspect of being a dietitian!
But the love of a good man (AKA my husband) swayed me to move far away from civilization (okay, maybe I am being a little dramatic) and into the country where the only work I thought I could do in my field was clinical. And to the hospital I went where to my surprise I enjoyed myself for a while. It was not the work that kept me happy but rather the extremely social environment that working at a large hospital provides. If you are looking for a social network that outperforms facebook, check out employment opportunities at your local hospital!
The hospital work kept me busy for several years but I rarely felt like I helped anyone. Providing diet instruction to patients about to walk out the door from a long hospital stay is hardly productive. How much can you remember from one 30 minute conversation? And am I suppose to relay enough information to live off of in that short time? Can I regurgitate my degree in so brief an encounter? I think not.
(Side note: I do feel like I was able to help those intubated and sedated who needed tubefeeding or TPN. It was not however an ideal setting for life-altering diet instruction.)
Eventually being a mother won out and I left that job missing the people I worked with but none of the work. But this past year seems to have brought new life to my career. It feels as though I awoke suddenly - although in reality it was not suddenly - and I was teaching a nutrition class where I had full control of the content, a voice into the community on health, a chance to do some writing on my favorite topics with the hopes of reaching a larger audience and a steady stream of folks at my door picking up food from the food co-ops I run out of my house (yes, that's plural. co-ops.) When did I take on a full time job? The phone began to ring, text messages on my cell phone collected rapidly, and my email in-box filled all while the door bell was ringing, dinner was buring, and a baby was crying.
And in the midst of the chaos I realized that I had my dream job through these various outlets. Now what the heck do I do with this mess?
Last fall I stopped blogging, cut out a few other extra activities, and shut my self in for a while to regroup. If this was what I love, I had to find a way to make it work without sacrificing my family along the way.
After much brainstorming and planning, the new year is starting off with co-ops reorganized in a way that they can manage themselves without the need of constant emails and text messages. And other responsibilities have been realigned as well. My dream job may have snuck up on me and caught me off guard but I think we are back on track now. And I think it is safe to say you can expect more posts soon!
Happy New Year everyone! I pray you too are starting the year off regrouped and energized!
No comments:
Post a Comment