Debora Jones
I was raised by parents who didn't understand the value of a college education. The highest level of education that was completed by either of them was the sixth grade. I watched my father as he worked as a factory laborer in addition to doing odd side jobs with his dump truck in a struggle to provide for a wife and eight children. My mother, tasked with caring for eight children, never worked outside the home. I was encouraged to get good grades so that I would graduate from high school, but there was never any encouragement to pursue a college degree. To parents who only reached sixth grade, earning a high school diploma was the ultimate success. I did very well in high school, graduating as salutatorian. As I look back over my high school years, I realize that I just never fully grasped the importance of pursuing a higher education. However, I did enroll in college and earned an associate's degree in business management technology in March of 1980.
I was married in February of 1979 and became pregnant with my first child on the day I graduated with my associate's degree. I decided to defer using my degree in the workforce and become a stay-at-home mom. I conceived my second child eight months after my first child was born, and my husband and I decided that my remaining a stay-at-home mom was best for the family at the time. Our priority was to raise our two sons and provide the best child care and education possible for them in an effort to groom them to eventually become successful adults. I was determined to instill into my children the importance of higher education. I devoted all my time to nurturing my family and making sure that all the needs of my children were being satisfied. What I desired for myself was superseded by the needs of my family. I often thought about going back to school, but the time never seemed right. I kept telling myself that my family came first, and the more I processed that, the easier it became to justify not continuing my education. I kept thinking that "my time would come." I took pleasure in knowing that I was solidifying the home life while my husband worked. My husband even added a part-time job to his workload just to make ends meet as I remained a stay-at-home mom. Those times were often filled with hardship and financial uncertainty, and it pained me to see the toll that 60+ hour work weeks were taking on my husband. I had friends that would tell me that they missed their child's first step, or that their babysitter found their child's first tooth. They had to worry about childcare if one of their children became ill and needed someone to stay at home with them or pick them up from school.
It was comments such as those that gave me solace concerning my decision to be a stay-at-home mother. I didn't miss out on the special moments in my children's lives and was able to fully direct their child care because I was fortune enough to be able to be there with them.
During the early years of my children's school careers, I started volunteering at their school as a "room mother" and a library aid. I was able to attend field trips with their classes and provide transportation if there was a need. I enjoyed helping them with their homework and just having the opportunity to be at home when they came home from school. When my oldest son graduated from eighth grade, my husband and I decided that we would make a financial sacrifice and enroll our children into a private high school. Enrolling them into a private high school proved to be exceptionally beneficial. We discovered that the curriculum was better suited for preparing them for the rigors of college. Both of our sons excelled in high school, graduating first and third in their respective classes. They have since earned undergraduate and graduate college degrees and are now working as engineers.
As my young sons progressed through grade school, I decided to take an adult continuing education banking class at night. Upon completion of the class work, I was able to get a job with a local bank as a proof encoder.
I stayed with the same bank for over twenty years, progressing from proof encoder, charge card clerk, accounting clerk, loan processer to retail operations specialist. Due to the present state of the economy, my job was centralized, and I now find myself unemployed. I realize that my experience in the banking business is not very marketable at this present time since all the financial institutions are in dire financial predicaments. I need to make myself more marketable by obtaining additional education.
Losing my income has been life-changing for me and my husband.
If I could rewind time, I would have done things differently. I would have still remained a stay-at-home mom during my children's early years, but I would have continued attending college even if I had to do it on a part-time basis at night. Not being gainfully employed has been an enormous adjustment. After being out of the job market for over twenty years, I feel "out of the loop" and ill-equipped when it comes to competing with the rest of the applicant pool. Searching daily for employment in this faltering economy to no avail has been disheartening. However, I earnestly stay fastened onto the notion that there is still hope. It is within my power to change my situation. I need to make the first move on improving myself. If I don't, no one else will.
I often find myself taking an assessment of my family, and I see the returns of the emotional, educational, and spiritual deposits I placed into my children being reaped in the lives of our adult sons. It is time that I make those same deposits within myself. I encouraged my children to succeed in life, and now I need to encourage myself. My sons are now constantly telling me that I can achieve this goal. They have turned the tables on me and are pushing me to obtain more education, and it has been a blessing to realize that they believe in me. This role-reversal has been interesting and enlightening. I now see that throughout the years of celebrating the achievements of my sons, I had become complacent with being just a "cheerleader" and not a "player."
I now declare that era terminated. I've chosen to step off the sidelines and onto the court to participate in the "game" myself. Words can't express the admiration and appreciation I have for the Project Working Mom program. After funding our two children's journeys through private high school and college, my husband and I are not financially capable of funding additional education for me. Receiving a scholarship from Project Working Mom would serve as a vehicle for the journey that has been delayed in my life for almost three decades. I have been contemplating my next career move and always seem to come back to the health care field. The outlook for careers in health care appears to be very promising. I feel that my current knowledge and experience, along with a certification in medical billing and coding would equip me to make a successful transition into health care.
I am greatly appreciative of this opportunity and would be overjoyed to be selected as a Project Working Moms scholarship recipient. Thank you for your consideration.