As I start summer this year, I am also entering into another type of new season; a season of Cura Personalis, or "care for the whole person." If you have seen or spoken with me in the past month, I may have summarized it to you like this: "new job, new house, new cat, new school." For those of you with whom I have not had the pleasure to interact in the past month, let me break it down for you, too, as follows: When it had been six months after the passing of my grandmother, more affectionately known as "Grammy," I ventured out to encounter what the next season of my life was to become. This led to initially reaching back out to Brisa at "Centro Una Brisa de Esperanza," or "A Breeze of Life," and my ministry site while on mission, to check in on our mutual timing, regarding collaborating on opening a domestic violence shelter in collaboration with the sexual violence center and Montessori style school where I was volunteering in Cochabamba, Bolivia. "It's a good time for me," I said, "and how about you?" In her words, she told me, "Valerie, we would love to have your help, but {based on the current landscape of non-profit fundraising} we are running a skeleton crew." So I let her know that I would be finding a role with transferable skills, and thus began my foray into the world of a Social Services job search, which led to several promising interviews at wonderful organizations (The Spring {a domestic violence shelter I had partnered with on nonprofit ventures and had also volunteered with before}, the GAL {Guardian Ad Litem} office in downtown Tampa, etc.) but to no actual tangible offers, as each explained that they were looking for either an MSW (Master of Social Work degree) or 2 yrs of direct service in case management (and even with two years of experience in Bolivia, it became evident to me that fulfilling hiring and/or grant requirements are a very specific endeavor). At one point, I said to myself, "what if I did get an MSW?" which then led me to my next self reflective question, "what could it hurt to have additional knowledge and a license leading to the option of direct case management experience in the future?" So, I started researching MSW programs, narrowed the search from my top 10 selections to a top 3 list, and then ended up applying at the top 2 and deciding to make my #1 choice to attend Fordham University, a Jesuit university based in New York that has been educating graduate students in social work for more than a century, and whose motto happens to be "Cura Personalis," which matches this new season of my life! What about the job? In May of this year, I accepted an offer to be a Success Coach at Wichita State University, and am working with students to develop a holistic approach to achieve their own pathway to success, in topics such as accountability, time management, study skills, and creating a successs plan, as well as referring students to resources such as mental health and wellness, tutoring and supplemental instruction, and other support services that can help them to reach their academic and life goals. I am confident that this position will be a good stepping stone toward an eventual MSW degree and fulfilling licensing requirements to be a counselor! What about the house and what about the cat? In this slideshow, you can see a short preview of both, with more to come in the future ;): And finally, as always, I am eager to hear about what is going on in your life!
Are you in a season of change, like me? Are you postponing your long-term life goals for a short-term plan that will, like me, inevitably lead to achievement of both sets of the aforementioned goals? And are you ready to be patient, caring for yourself and others as part of a season of "Cura Personalis?" Let me know in the comments, and I will look forward to hearing from you soon! With love, Valerie
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AuthorValerie Ellis, who is in alignment with the Black Lives Matter Movement and everyone whose life is impacted, now or before, by times of social injustice. Archives
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