During my six year career at the Ranch I have been a full time youth care worker during the evening, nights, and weekends and a student part-time during the day.

I decided to go to school and work because my husband and I moved out of the house at 17. We needed to be able to pay the bills and in order to do that I had to go to work. This made school really hard and I could only go part time.

 I started university shortly before I was hired at the Ranch. Working 3-11 shifts was nice because it allowed me to go to school from 10 a.m.  to 2:15 p.m. every day. It was stressful not having any time for myself or my family or for sleep but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

The Ranch has GREAT benefits for employees who go to school! They really believe in education. They even have an education committee which pays for two classes a year for full time workers who have worked at the Ranch for a year! This really helped with the bills.

Once I started working with the youth my education path began to change. I started out wanting to get  a psychology degree and English minor. But after a few years of working in the human service field I KNEW I wanted to be a social worker. I really love my job and even more I love the clientele we work with!

I will graduate June 2013. It has taken me six years to get my degree but I am happy with my decision to work and go to school. I have a nice home, a great career, and a happy marriage. It was tough and stressful at times but I had great support from my family and friends. The on the job training has also helped me in school. I had the experience to understand the knowledge I was learning in class. Most people only have one or the other. I was lucky enough to obtain both!

I am proud to soon be a social worker and even more proud that I stuck with it even though some days were long and hard.