Things that worked

Finally, right? I know.

When I was laid off in 2016, it was because my work was being outsourced to India (even though they said they were only going to send overflow there, and that we were safe).

Because of that, I was eligible for training through the Trade Act. I could go back to school. Unfortunately, that was just at the point in our mother's dementia where she was still better off staying in the home but could not be left alone.

That had come up through regular job hunting, as leaving for job interviews required getting other people to stay with Mom. I had thought that if I could find another telecommuting job maybe I could make it work, but it was clear that was going to be unworkable by the time I was contacted about the Trade Act.

Getting my school paid for felt like it should be a dream come true, but it would have required spending hours away at a time. I couldn't do it.

One of the most comforting things about Mom's disease is that we have consistently done the right thing for her, and we have known what to do as that has changed. It takes frequent adjustments and we are trying to figure out a new situation now, but overall, I can live with myself on that count. That's really important. 

It was still a little disappointing then. 

Among the options I had down to investigate after quitting, one of them was whether I still had any Trade Act eligibility. 

That was more important in light of my results in checking out one of the things I had looked into: school.

That thing where I kind of want to know and understand everything (while acknowledging its impossibility) has been around for a while, but it had shifted in the past few years. 

As I found that knowing some things helped me understand other things better, and discovered interesting connections between different areas, I started thinking about how to facilitate knowledge. 

It wasn't just about academics, but also the world around us. There is science in personal hygiene and cooking and cleaning. Things that people used to learn at home weren't necessarily being taught there anymore. Or learning things about other countries can teach a lot about democracy and what is bad for it and what is good for it, but often we only learn out own history and government. Then if you focus on standardized testing, there may be a limit to how much students engage with that.

A lot of current reading problems kind of make kids hate reading.

So I would keep making mental notes on things and ruminating on that. In my mind it was becoming an interest in curriculum design. I didn't really have any concrete plans for it yet, figuring that would be easier to pursue when I was further along in my quest for more (but not really "all") knowledge. 

Then a friend mentioned that Western Governors has a program for that.

It was just one of the ideas that I had down to investigate, but I did go through the application process and someone actually called me while I was filling it out.

Sure, that seems a little aggressive, but then it ended up being very supportive. 

I was admitted and Trade Act came through and is paying my tuition. I will complete my Masters in Education and Instructional Design in early 2026.

That feels pretty cool.

It doesn't solve everything, because I still need to figure out living expenses during that time period, but it is the one thing that really feels like progress.

The other thing that works out is that I have health care through the Oregon Health Plan.

Now, I could not get it started online and needed to call, but nonetheless it worked. That is really important.

There are many issues with health care that I have alluded to in reference to my job, and that may be its own post, but I'll tell you one thing that helps is that OHP actually wants people to have health care. They know it ultimately costs more to withhold it, while causing irreparable harm.

There might be things we can learn from that.