I’m a little late to the game by a few days, but I’m joining in for the ‘Share Our Lives’ link-up series hosted by Adrienne from Mom Life With Adrienne, Dara from Not In Jersey, Jen from Show Me Sweet Tea, Joanne from My Slices Of Life and Sarah from Toronto Sam. We are kicking things off by introducing ourselves and chatting about past jobs. So, let’s jump right in!
Meet Me
You can read all about me here, but in a nutshell, I’m Mandy. I’ve been married to my husband for 24 years, and we have an 18-year-old son. We live in the Mississippi Delta in the hometown we grew up in, and I started this blog 16 years ago as a “youngish” mom. I can’t believe I have been blogging this long, but I absolutely love it and have had many great experiences and opportunities.
Past Jobs
Babysitter– Like many young girls, I started my working history by babysitting the neighborhood kids and eventually for other families. I was probably 13 or 14 when I started, and it was fun because I knew my charges well and never had a discipline issue with any of them. Of course, making money as a teen was exciting because then I had extra “fun money” to use for gas and shopping. Not a bad way to start out in the working world.
Room Attendant– Room Attendant is just a fancy way of saying maid, haha! One summer, my best friend and I went to work in Yellowstone National Park as room attendants. We dusted, vacuumed, cleaned bathrooms, and changed sheets daily in one of the big hotels located in the park. In exchange, we got a weekly paycheck and free room and meals in the employee’s dorms. It was hard work, but I got to see some amazing sites while there and met some really cool people!
Receptionist– When I was 21, I worked as a receptionist for several months at my local doctor’s office. I really enjoyed the job and probably would have stayed much longer, but then…
Assistant Teacher– A few months after I was hired at the doctor’s office, my aunt asked me if I would be interested in working at an elementary school as a teacher assistant. Her former coworker was the principal there, and she needed an assistant fast! I had NO idea what I was doing, but I consider this job to be my absolute favorite of all the jobs I’ve ever had! I started out working for two years in third grade, and in my last year, I worked in Kindergarten. It was SO much fun; I learned so many “on the job” training skills, loved the kids and all of my coworkers, and literally cried when I had to leave. I left because I was getting married, and Hubby was stationed in Fort Hood, Texas.
Language Arts Teacher– Hubby was sent to South Korea a few months after we married, so I moved back home and finished my degree to become a teacher. My first job was as a language arts teacher. I worked with 7th graders. I loved the kids, but the school was in the middle of a huge leadership upheaval, which made it not so fun to work there. I began looking for a position in a new school once that year was over.
Librarian– As I applied to our local school district, I talked to the superintendent while handing in my application. He told me that he had just filled all of the open English positions, but he thought I’d be great at being a librarian and wondered if I would consider talking to the principal of a school that needed one. I agreed, thinking if I could stick it out for a year doing that, I could eventually move into an English position. Well. Scratch that because I fell in love with being a librarian! I went back and took classes I needed to become certified, and for the next 14 years, I was an elementary school librarian at three different schools. I had great experiences at all schools, loved my kids, and had so much fun, although it was hard work! Once again, it broke my heart to leave my last school, and I still think about my kids and coworkers daily.
Homemaker– As of June 2022, I became a homemaker due to health issues. I’ll admit I’ve struggled to figure out a new routine, who I am now that I don’t work outside the home, and adjusting to one income. However, I am so thankful I can be at home and here more for my family.
I’m really excited about this new link-up! If you want to participate, make your post and link up to one of the hosts above. Here is the Share Your Life schedule for this year:
I was a “room attendant” in Lake Louise and The Netherlands — you’re right — a way better term than “maid.” And I thought I would love being an elementary school librarian but it was so boring, so now now I’m a middle school secretary — not boring at all!!!
Oh, school secretaries are never bored!! Haha! I filled in for ours for a few hours one day at school when we had testing going on, and boy did I stay busy!
That was fun to read about all the jobs you had! Sounds like you enjoyed most of them. 🙂
I have been so fortunate to have some really good jobs. I do miss my students, though.
Thanks for linking up with us! I enjoyed getting to know about you. I’m a high school English teacher…and I think that’s so cool that you ended up a librarian. I wish I had considered that along the way.
Jen, it was never on my radar, but I’m so glad someone else saw it for me! It was definitely one of the best jobs I have ever had! Thanks for stopping by!
I was hired to be a librarian at our local school and I could not wait to start, but sadly our school shut down before I was able to start. I did enjoy all my years teaching and the various ages I worked with though.
Aww, that’s unfortunate! I know you would have loved it. So glad you have good memories of teaching! I do, too. I was very blessed to work at some great schools with some great people.
I stumbled into teaching too and I loved it. Sounds like you really found your calling and no matter how long we’ve been home, it will always be a very special part our lives. This looks like such a fun link up. I need to go check it out!
I’m trying to think if I knew that about you, Kim! I don’t think I did! Teaching was the best, especially when I was younger! Haha!
Hello Mandy! Nice to meet you, thanks for your nice comment on my blog. We do have similar stories! I agree with you, it took me some time to get into a routine staying home also. You can get stuck in a rut real quick. Excited to read more of your posts!
So glad you stopped in! And yes, staying home has been an adjustment, but I am very grateful that I can.
When we went to Yellowstone, I saw so many young people working at the hotels/restaurants. It was fun to talk to them about where they were from. That must have been a cool experience. I loved teaching science, but think I would have also enjoyed working in the school library. Thanks for commenting on my blog, so I could come check out yours!
So glad you stopped in , Tanya! Yes, I met so many great people when I worked out there that summer. People from all over! Very cool stuff for a small town Mississippi girl!
That was really interesting, Mandy. You can tell you were good at your jobs by the enthusiasm with which you talked about them.
Aww, thank you. I hope I was. I was so blessed to have some good work experiences.
The room attendant job at Yellowstone sounds like such a great experience for a young person! I would have enjoyed doing something like that if I’d had a friend to go with me. I’ve kind of done the opposite of you most recent job change – after “retiring” from homeschooling I had some of those same struggles with figuring out how to structure my life and who I even was any more. Being home and having that time with and for your family is so worth it though!
It sure is. I’m so thankful to be home now. I’m finally finding my groove and building a routine. But it sure was an adjustment! Haha! Thank you so much for stopping in!
That was fun! I loved hearing about your previous jobs. I think being a librarian would be very interesting.
You’ve been blogging the same amount of time as me!
I sometimes can’t believe how long I have been blogging! But, I’m so glad I did. I’ve been able to preserve some great memories!
The room attendent job sounds like a fun summer job!