Work the plan.
But what happens when the plan no longer works?
Today is the first day of school at UT, where I was accepted this Spring to pursue my Bachelors Degree in Sacred Music. I, however, won't be going. It has been a very tough summer deliberating on the best way to continue to work toward my calling to music ministry. Many obstacles are standing in my way and I was finally forced to change my plan. It's been a frustrating part of my journey, but I'm happy with where I'm headed for now.
Let me bring everyone up to speed. Last December, Josh and I decided to downsize to make room for my college tuition (and shortly after, the kids' tuitions). We decided to build a house, figuring our current home would sell in about the same time as the construction of the new one. Also, this Spring I've been taking on added responsibilities at my day job, including taking a professional certification exam in instructional design. (I'm still waiting on the results.). I thought by Fall everything would be ... settled. I thought the house would be sold, we'd be moved into the new house, and my work would return to its normal pace. Not a single one of those things has happened! Financially, this looks like two mortgage payments. At work, this looks like limited time resources to pull away for class.
This summer, with school and choir rehearsals down, I was able to make dinner for my family at least 3 times a week. Eating together at the dinner table regularly has really helped me feel more connected with my kids, who are growing up way too fast. I decided that no matter what, I'm going to make sure this continues so I don't miss out on watching them grow. Also this summer, I got a biometric screening done that has me wanting to commit to a regular exercise program. So now there are even more competing priorities and demands on my time.
Cut to this Fall, where I was signed up for 6 credits at UT that would cost me more than $3K and eat up 8 hours of my work week, not including drive time of 30+ minutes each way. The more I tried to reconcile my available time and finances with the new schedule, the more I realized that it just wasn't going to work. I felt like pursuing that schedule would mean either not being fully engaged at work, not being able to make ends meet financially, not being fully committed to my school work, not being able to commit to regular exercise, or not being fully present to my family. So, I had to make some hard decisions based on my priorities. In the end, I decided not to attend UT this semester. It breaks my heart after working so hard to get accepted.
For now, I've come up with a plan for this semester. I'm going to complete my AFA (Associates of Fine Arts) at Pellissippi State Community College. I only have two semesters of voice lessons to complete the degree, and I can study with the same teacher I was going to be working with at UT. This solves both the time and financial resource issue for now and makes me feel like I'm continuing to follow my path without sacrificing my other life priorities.
I'm considering lots of options for the Spring semester, including returning to UT, finding an online program, or ending with the AFA and perusing the UU Music Leader Credential. I welcome your thoughts on potential next steps. Ultimately, I just want to be the best music director I can be with the right training to support my work -- without sacrificing my family or career or health in the process. How that path looks isn't exactly clear, but I'm walking on it anyway.
