Getting vocational help from the State. Comments welcome.

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So here is the situation,

I graduated from college in 2013 with a bachelor of arts. Focused on history. I wasn't what you would call a dumb college kid. I read the online newspapers, NPR being my favorite and I watched tidbits of TV that mattered to me here and there. At the start of my 4th year in college, fifth being my last I really wanted to figure out what I wanted to do. I joined a political campaign, that did not tickle my fancy. What I wanted then and still want now is a 9-5 Monday through Friday federal government job in Immigration and Homeland Security. So I began to search different websites to figure out what the qualifications were for Office Clerk in the Department of Immigration.


Being 34 years old I knew I was not as tech savvy as some of these younger millennials are. So I made the wise decision that I should take some extra training courses under the advice of my Disability Services Coordinator. I contacted the State BVR and began the process to receive software training through the Goodwill. It took from May of 2013 until August of 2014 to get the proper authorization together in order to even take the class. In between my college graduation up until now I was going through a professional and personal death at a SLOW RATE!! ! It got so bad that my immediate supervisor had to bark orders at me almost EVERY NIGHT!! ! I was and still am working a third shift job at a grocery store.

I wound up in that situation because I DID NOT WANT TO TAKE THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE!! I became heavily influenced by the idea of pursuing a job that you LOVE, instead of pursuing a career with the potential to earn vast sums of money. Or a career in my home town that would've been easy to move up in the ranks. I had and still do listen to inspirational speeches by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Peter Dinklage. I knew the struggle to meet my goals was going to be a low, sh***y, trying period in my life.............

That being said, its one thing to know that your immediate future is going to test you mentally. Its quite another to actually go through it. But here is where I made the mistake.



I became too dependent on the state BVR and the Goodwill to do more of the work for me. When in reality I should be more proactive. Last night I just kinda snapped out of it and learned my lesson. I actually got to the point where I don't even care to listen to my immediate supervisor enough to get simple instructions right. I'm slow at that job not because of AS, but because I just flat out don't give a f*&k anymore about it. I spent the past seven years throwing s**t on a shelf and I can't wait to move on.

So the moral of the story is this. If you are going to play the disability card and utilize the services of the state, great, play the disability card, utilize the services they offer. I'm serious they truly are an invaluable resource. But if you think that some government agency is going to take care of your situation and lay your goal at your feet after an extended period of time+ you jumping through certain hoops that they require you to jump through?! !?!, you're dead wrong.


There is a difference between help and enable. Here is MY definition of both.

Help: receiving aid while in the process of attempting to accomplish some feat of some goal that you have on your own.

Enable: Allowing someone else to do part of the work for you that you are capable of doing and should be doing yourself.

All true. I wonder if you would be qualified and eligible for a job with your BVR (or some other agency). You have a college degree and appear to know the office well enough. They might even prefer having someone like you who has knows the ropes work with them. Just a thought. Having worked in government, I can say that most agencies run pretty much the same way as every other agency despite their primary focus. So, if you have been aiming for a federal job, a state or local office might be just as interesting to you.

Thank you for sharing your experience and reflection. In my opinion, your age is an asset because you're not out partying or BS'ing on the job. You take your life more seriously, both in and out of the workplace.

Congratulations on your degree. I think it' a huge accomplishment! Now go after that job you want! What's the worse that can happen? They say no. But you press on!

Good luck in your adventures.

_________________
Katniss :heart:

I'm seeking friends to play games with on YIM, and maybe chat if we're comfortable. If not, that's ok too!
No pressure. Just games.

Well I actually had some help in getting to this point. I made it a point to keep all the paperwork that I had acquired ever since I got the diagnosis. It was a slow painful process that took several years. Starting back in 2006 when I got the diagnosis.

Keep all paperwork neatly organized in a binder

Make sure you have other people helping you out during this process

All the while you need to be going through this process from a stable environment

I got vocational help from the state. The counselors were very nice and caring people but the onus is on you to know what you want out of life. I had a lot of difficulty figuring this out so I used my therapist to help organize my thoughts. I thought long and hard about learning to drive a truck. I talked with my therapist about this reasoning that they would wash me out if I cannot handle it so there is no sense worrying about whether I can or cannot as someone else will make that determination. I thought that I should be looking for an IT job but the thought of repeating the same cycle of failure over again was very distasteful.

After college, I had fallen into IT and finally could stand no more. Coupled with a failing personal and professional life, I ended up hospitalized back in August. After getting out of the hospital, I started working with Voc Rehab and they suggested that I try truck driving as a career because I'm single and have no kids. They said it's in demand, the money is good, and it might be a way to get what I need out of a job: to come in, do my thing, and go home. They also said it would provide more money than some of the lower paying, less stressful office jobs. To their point, I could earn decent money and be able to have fun when off. Initially, I wasn't absolutely enthralled with their suggestion.

So, they sent me over to the school to talk with the instructor. The instructor was this nice older guy. To make a long story short, I went ahead and did it. Now, I'm like a pig in s**t. Wished I'd found this career ten years ago. My instructor helped me get a great job and placed me with one of his former students that is a trainer at the company. After three weeks of training with another driver, the company surprised me with a brand spanking new tractor and I was out on my own.