Tonight I am writing about something other than what has consumed many of my fellow Wisconsinites and me. Having an eye level view of Scott Walker and the Fitzgerald brothers ripping the State of Wisconsin apart has had a tremendous impact on friends as well as my family and me. Their actions, while morally and ethically wrong, have also ripped apart friendships and families.
Follow me below the fold…
Those of you who follow me know a little bit of my history. Those who don’t, here is a primer to get you up to speed. My parents were children of the Depression. My dad served in the Navy during WWII, my mom was a Rosie the Riveter. After the War my started work as a union truck driver for a local dairy. A job he held for over thirty years, until his boss busted the union. An action that changed my life, gone were dreams of college, in was the reality of joining the U.S. Army.
Now I am proud of my military service; however, I often wonder what might have been. Wondering about what might have been does not really get one anywhere. Which is the purpose behind this diary. While Scott Walker and his minions have literally torn this state apart it has brought me to an epiphany.
I am currently enrolled in the University of Wisconsin – Stout’s Masters of Science in Technical and Professional Writing. I am attending thanks to the generosity of the people of Wisconsin and the veteran’s educational benefits that they provide me. I could not pursue this degree without that help. My goal when I started this program was to become a technical writer for any one of a dozen local businesses.
I am a writer; I have wanted to write for as long as I can remember, regardless of what my English 101 teacher said about me (She told me I would never pass her class, I did, and I did not write again for fifteen years.) As a witness to the events that have unfolded around me here in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin I realized that I had to make a change in my life. I can no longer do a job that my heart is not in. I also no longer want a technical writer position. As a matter of fact, I never want to work in the for profit world again.
This afternoon I had a conversation with my career counselor at UW – Stout and gave me some good ideas on what I should be doing. Public relations, Marketing, Media, Editor jobs that relate to my degree. Jobs at progressive think tanks, non-profit organizations, labor unions to name a few of the types of places I would like to work.
The problem with trying to change careers, time and information; I need to network, but, I don’t know where to begin, I do not know anyone in these fields. I need to do informational interviews; however, I work full-time, am a part-time grad student, a part-time grad assistant and a full-time father. That is what I am up against.
So…if anyone here on Daily Kos can help me out in my quest to change careers, I would greatly appreciate it. I cannot leave Madison because of my son…so relocation is out of the question. Just drop me a line via the Daily Kos Messaging system.
To sum up why I want change careers at the mid-point of my life…I want to do good in the world. I don’t care if I get rich; I just want to do good…and make sure that what happened to my dad…never happens to anyone else ever again.
And now for the shameless plug…please vote for me in the Netroots nation scholarship competition.