Monday, May 8, 2023

Graduating into a New Life

Calling all readers! Thursday, we're featuring Pets on Parade, so please send your pet photos in to JuliaSpencerFleming at Gmail dot com! 

 

 

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: If it’s May, there must be a graduation in the Hugo-Vidal family, right? And you are right, dear readers - we are all gathered in Norfolk, VA to celebrate Veronique’s graduation (and pinning) as a Respiratory Therapist. I am SO proud of her. Veronique worked for several years after getting her BA from the University of Virginia, but like a lot of liberal-arts-educated millennials, she wasn’t seeing much in the way of income or advancement. 


She was always interested in health care, though, and I remember when she first told me her idea about becoming an RT. We were walking on a sandy beach during one of her visits in Maine, and she laid out a whole plan, including how to finance it. I was impressed because unlike the rest of the family (which tends to be disorganized, dramatic and/or too idealistic for our own good) Veronique had analyzed which health care job had the best return on investment. Needless to say, this was not something Ross or I did when deciding to become a full time writer and a special ed teacher, respectively.


It’s been a grueling two years for her - she spent the first summer after getting into the competitive program catching up on biology and chemistry courses she hadn’t taken at UVA. From then it was four semesters and another summer of full-time classes plus practicum: the students were rotated through six different hospitals in the area to experience all the areas where RTs might be called. Keep in mind, this was during the second year of Covid.


Every time I called or Facetimed with Spencer, Veronique would pop in, say, “Hi, mom!” and then vanish back into her home office, where she studied at night. Every. Night. It’s one thing to fling yourself into degree work when you’re a kid; it’s another thing entirely to quit a job and take on grinding degree work at thirty. That, I’ve told her, is the most impressive accomplishment of all: to risk leaving what’s not working and reinventing yourself - in her case, first as a full-time student and now as a skilled medical professional!


Reds, I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Veronique. What’s a time when you took a risk to reinvent yourself?


LUCY BURDETTE: Congratulations to Veronique–what an accomplishment! Our nephew is graduating from a residency program in emergency medicine–so grueling! This is the same program our daughter attended so we know first hand how hard they have to work!


DEBORAH CROMBIE: Congratulations to Veronique! Do tell her she has many cheers from all the Reds! It must have taken such courage to reinvent herself, and in such a demanding profession.


I suppose I reinvented myself when (with a history as a chronically bad student and already a couple of years older than my classmates) I enrolled in a hard but wonderful college as a sophomore and earned a degree in biology. Quite a few years later I reinvented myself again when I made up my mind to write a novel. I’ve never regretted either decision and I wish the same for Veronique.

 

RHYS BOWEN: Adding my congratulations for Veronique. Well done! My daughter Anne went through a similar reinventing a few years ago when she decided to leave her job in the advertising industry and become a psycho-therapist. Three very intense years of study and now she’s a qualified therapist working with at-risk children. I’m naturally very proud.


I don’t think I’ve ever re-invented myself. It was always a natural progression from college newspaper to BBC to writing screenplays to books. I guess I must enjoy it!


HALLIE EPHRON: BIG congrats to Veronique! And what a great career path (and job opportunities!) she has ahead of her.


I’ve always been a “keep a foot on the boat and a foot on the dock” kind of risk taker. So when I started writing (aka learning to write) when my youngest went to college and I had a room to write in and time to do it. I worked part time for years getting better, working freelance so I could keep our fiances in good shape and manage the time. Which explains why it took me 10 years to go from thinking I’d like to write to having a book accepted by an agent. For many more years I kept writing freelance on the side. No leaps for me.


JENN McKINLAY: Congratulations, Veronique!!! That is fantastic! And how very smart to make the shift when you did. I made a life change up when I was 25. I moved cross country from CT to AZ to pursue being a writer in a cheaper part of the country where i could actually afford to love working part-time. It took longer than I thought but I think I might have made it finally. Kind of wish I'd thought of being an RT first...


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: This is so inspirational! Hurray, Veronique! Brilliant. Oh, gosh, I feel as if I reinvent every day. But I guess it was in 1970. With absolutely no plans or career path, I thought--okay, all I want to do it change the world. How can I do that? Maybe I'll be a reporter. And naive me marched in the biggest station in Indianapolis, with zero experience, and somehow got a job as a radio reporter. I always think: I took a HUGE chance--and so did he radio station, right?--and somehow I found my calling. I did it for more than 3 decades. And then, I had an idea for a book.

 

JULIA: How about you, dear readers? Have you or someone you know taken the leap into a new life? 



66 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Veronique . . . what a fantastic accomplishment!

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  2. Congratulations, Veronique. What a great accomplishment. I wish you many happy years in your new profession.

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  3. Congratulations, Veronique!!!

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  4. Yay for her! And for sticking with her training throughout the pandemic - what a time to be learning how to help with people's breathing.

    I've reinvented a couple of times. Once when I hied off to Japan at barely 23 to live with my love and teach English conversation. Again when I left a good high tech job to hang out with my babies, start and run a small farm, and teach childbirth classes (which required a certificate program). Next when I retrained as a tech writer (another certificate program).

    Like Hallie, I kept one foot in the cubicle (although full time) and one hand on the creative writing, so when I took the leap ten years ago to leave the day job and write fiction full time, it wasn't so much reinventing as giving all my time to it.

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    1. Those are some dramatic shifts, Edith! No wonder you can write about such a wide range of subjects with such authenticity. Can we hope for a series about an American in Japan at some point?

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    2. Thanks, Julia. I have two published short stories set in Japan, but no plans at the time to set on in Japan! Although I am going back for my first visit in 45 years next spring, so you never know.

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  5. Big congratulations to you, Veronique! I'm sure that RT program was two years of sustained, hard work. Well done!

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  6. Congratulations, Veronique! You will make a difference to every patient you treat. When the youngest left for college, I started writing my first mystery, using my knowledge of the interior design business and home renovations.

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    1. That's the classic time for women to reinvent themselves, Margaret - when we become empty nesters.

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  7. Congratulations Veronique! Great decision. I have a friend who is a (now retired) RT and the career has given him the ability to have a really great life, including working on medical flights for many years, for which he was very well paid. As for me, I muddle along--no great leaps here!

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    1. Gillian, medical flights sound very exciting! One of the reasons Veronique chose RT was because it was so very transferable. When she started, Spencer was still considering the Navy for his career, and a certified RT can work anywhere and always find an opening.

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  8. What an accomplishment Veronique!! Congrats!

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  9. Mega congrats to Veronique! Good for her for making this change of her own accord, with her own plan to follow. I have landed on my feet when my corporate position was terminated and I was without a job (I completed a masters and took on contract writing & editing work that eventually led me to college teaching), but that is different than actively changing course on one's own schedule. My hat is off to Veronique for her vision and her achhievement.

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    1. Amanda, she is literally the first person in the family to make an actual career plan and see it through! :-D The rest of us kind of wander around like hippies, saying, "Well, maybe I'll try this?"

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    2. Hippies are under-rated, Julia:-)

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    3. I have to admit, it worked out for me, Debs!

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  10. Congratulations and best wishes Veronique. A well thought out plan can + love + determination = a very big win. well done. For me, it was not the position that was terminated. It was me. Back to school, 2 years later I had a degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. My goal was to serve others. The clients were the ones that saved me.

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  11. Congratulations to Veronique! Brains and gumption combined with a true-believer support network? #Superpower

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    1. Gumption is a great word for her, Rhonda.

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  12. Congratulations, Veronique! The daughter of my heart took a leap 6 years ago, right after the birth of her third child, to become an RN…community college to get all those credits she missed the first time around, the nursing courses classroom and clinical in pandemic dense times, an associates in nursing with honors in Dec 21, passing the state boards in Jan 22, the birth of a 4th child in May 22, back to classes in August, with BSN on the horizon in December 23. She is blessed in marriage with a wonderful husband who declared himself born to be a father! He was also born to be her loving partner in all things.

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    1. That is awesome, Elisabeth. And a shoutout to community colleges - that's where Veronique got her degree - because they change lives in a way the most august ivy-clad university can't touch.

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    2. Hooligan 2 is starting the nursing program. Eep! I think healthcare is a solid bet. Good for the daughter of your heart!

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  13. This above is Elisabeth. Drat blogger!

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    1. You can only roll your eyes at this point, Elisabeth...

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    2. 🙄🤪 Elisabeth

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  14. Congratulations, Veronique! Absolutely brilliant decision and follow-through.

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  15. This question is rather like the title flash “send your pet photos”. How do you pick your favourite? (10 cats, and 1 dog, and then there is the husband…)
    I left home at 16 to start university in Arts (wanted Science), shifted to Science in 2nd year (had to prove it to my father), first girl to get a BSc in family, moved to Saskatchewan for a BLT (lab tech in Biochem), worked in a children’s hospital for 5 years – loved it, married someone from Quebec so moved, new hospital – hated it for bad politics, moved to industry – bored, had 2nd child and quit that foolishness.
    Became a farmer – started with 2 – no might as well make it 3 cute goats. First kidding was a nightmare involving a c-section and the goat in our basement (I had just had a c-section myself), both of us lived and so did the babies – never doubt the power of orange pop and walking!
    Still farmed. Learned carpentry and built 5 houses. Somewhere in there is working several winters and springs in the local greenhouse – where I learned a lot by the seat of my pants both figuratively and literally. Besides, on a winter day in February, it was heart warming to be in the greenhouse with all the new life.
    Kids grew up and joined 4-H, so, so did I. Went from leader to member of the board to Data Base programmer and operator. Of course, that involved going back to University to learn how to programme .
    After 35 years sold farm, house etc., and moved most of that stuff and a lot more junk from Ontario to Nova Scotia to be with my parents, my mother who had Alzheimer’s. Built a house in the winter so they could live with us. My mother went into care so I took a job at the local Home Depot to work in gardening – retail is great – mindless, you get paid, and when you get in the car to drive home, you have nothing to think about and no worries to take home. Life circles back as my father owned a General Store, and here I was back in retail.
    Meanwhile in spare time took over a small local monthly newspaper as the Editor and other things – you know - layout, nagging, advertising, and did I say nagging… It folded because of Social Media since no one would send us ‘news’ as it had already been posted on Facebook, and people seem to have a very short attention span. It was also the beginning of Covid. It was becoming just obits, editorial, and some small historical articles. We were running out of ideas.
    Now, since both husband and I are retired, we just do the usual things – garden, puzzle, ignore each other, think about what to have for supper… and wait for the summer when we obsess about the Monarchs. Boring aren’t we?
    Congratulations to Veronique. May she continue to love to re-invent!

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    1. From Celia: What a great life story Margo, you have re-reinvented so many times and so many skills. I am in awe of your toolbox. Now it’s time to write that book isnt it? Thinking of “The Egg and I” by Betty MacDonald. Did I get the author right? It’s a long long time since I read her. But I feel retired may not be for you.

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    2. Margo: I'm with Celia -- Write the book of your life. Wow. Talk about reinventions of a woman...

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    3. Margo, I'm going to join in the call for you to write your life story! You're like a modern version of those hardy Canadian pioneer women!

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    4. No writing a book for me! I helped my father write a biography of our family and the local town circling around the sword fishing industry and the wars. That was a year of my life that I will never get back. Then there was the editing and the grammar and the spell chek, followed by finding, scanning, cleaning and positioning the photos. I hold authors in high esteem.

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    5. I have keep all the editorials that I wrote in The Seagull. I plan to (sometime), collate them and make copies for all my children. Life in general and their lives too are included in those essays.

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    6. Hooray for you, Margo! Elisabeth

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    7. What a great story, Margo. It should have been front of blog!

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  16. From Celia: Veronique you have a whole JRW community who have your back and I’m one of them. So proud of you and I look forward to meeting you next time you and Spencer make it up to Maine. I sometimes think my whole life is reinvention. But in terms of professional life I think deciding to try professional organization was the big one with Victor saying, “well I think we can manage financially for a few months so go for it”, which I did and never looked back.

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    1. Celia, that sounds so much Like Ross and I deciding if I should try full-time writing or beat the bushes for a lawyer job. We decided we could afford to try it for a year - and we also never went back!

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  17. Margo - what a great story! I love how talented you are.

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  18. Margo, your first sentence made me laugh!

    I wish Veronique wild success in her new career. My oldest daughter is 52, and just started a Masters in Nursing, remote from Purdue, because she decided to switch from managing critical care patients to teaching nursing. Her Masters from Columbia didn't qualify her to teach RNs. She used to teach LPNs, but there are almost no programs for that designation today. By the way, a disproportionate number of her students were older, and on their way to second (or third) careers.

    Like Edith, I have reinvented myself several times, as well. The most dramatic change was from a career selling all kinds of insurance to teaching sewing, writing about sewing, and lecturing all over the country with my self-published and traditionally published books. About sewing and sewing businesses. Way more fun!

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    1. Karen, I was thinking as I read, "That sounds like a lot more fun!" Congrats to your daughter. The older you get, the more daring and risky it seems to try reinventing yourself.

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    2. She is starting a new degree program just as my grandson graduates from high school and starts his own college career. I think she's very brave.

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  19. Congratulations, Veronique! Well done.

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  20. Congratulations Veronique! Planning, persistence, and all during COVID, no less. Wow!

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  21. It just shows you how we need to remember that "all" it takes is courage. And you never know what wonderful thing will happen. This is is incredibly inspirational, from everyone. We could call it "doing a Veronique"!

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    1. I'm going to lobby for that phrase to enter our family lexicon, Hank.

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  22. Congratulations Véronique ! You rock !
    Danielle

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  23. Veronique, sit down, put your feet up, and savor your victory! What an awesome feeling of accomplishment you have earned! I was focused on getting my PhD as a young woman--laser-focused--the average number of years for finishing was 10 years from the time of admittance into a program in my field. I did it in 4 years. A dozen years into my career, I took on the role of mom at age 45 to two babies--one 6 weeks old, the other just turned one. That decision put everything else into perspective for me.

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    1. Gosh, Flora, what a story. Maybe you will share with us one day.

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    2. Flora, those are two amazing accomplishments!

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    3. If I could post a photo, you'd all realize how selfish my decision was! Those two babies saved our lives! But thanks so much for the kind words!

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  24. Congratulations, Veronique!

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  25. My big leap has been to move to a town in a state I'd never lived in and had no friends and relatives nearby just because I wanted a big change not due to my husband's jobs. I just celebrated one year in this house. On other fronts my son Adrian is more apt to make big career changes. His latest is working in the oil patch, repairing pumps. In his off hours he is taking online courses to become an insurance adjuster. As he says, he is too old for that oil field ****. He's balancing all this with the Army Reserves.
    It is tough to do what you did, Veronique. You deserve all your success!

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    1. I have a friend whose husband in an insurance adjuster. Very happily so! Good for your son!

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  26. Congratulations to Veronique! All that hard work paid off!

    Big Leap in Life? In my case, it was my decision to get Cochlear Implants.

    While I recognize that it is NOT for everyone, it works for me.

    Diana

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  27. I am very impressed with Veronique for deciding to become a respiratory therapist and working day in and day out (and evenings, too, obviously!) to get there. And now she has made it! Please give her my warmest congratulations. As for me, I guess my biggest leap was to marry Peter and move to Bern. I knew very little German, I was in the middle of writing my Ph.D. dissertation in sociology, and I was aware that I probably wouldn't be able to work as an academic sociologist in Switzerland. But it really wasn't much of a leap, since I was moving in with someone who not only loved me but had a full-time job in the software industry. That's quite a safety net. Even so, there were moments during the first years when I wondered what the hell I had gone and done. Thirty-five years later, though, I know I made the right decision.

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  28. Sorry I'm coming in so late today. Congratulations to Veronique! I think it is so impressive that she was brave enough and determined enough to leave a career that wasn't working for her and pursue a new one. I've always thought that it's ridiculous to have to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life when you're in your late teens and early 20s.



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  29. Brava, Veronique! We need health care workers more than ever. My niece worked a COVID ward, is now in a facility that does long-term physical rehab. Many left the profession, so they are seeking good staff to hire.
    My leaps weren't quite my own idea. Teaching was my goal since kindergarten, but there were no teaching jobs in '72, so I worked for Prudential, first as a secretary (like the majority of female liberal arts majors of the time) and then as an Agent, as they caught up with the times. It's all experience, with valuable lessons. I finally taught in '80, but the district RIFed many of us in '82. I traveled for an interesting year teaching study skills, and finally found my "forever school district" with some transfers within the district as increasing population called for rearranging and building new schools. Retirement was a bit early, unhealthy building (soon to be torn down) took its toll on me, but now I can read all I want.

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  30. Congratulations to Veronique!! Give her a hug from me.

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