I regret that I didn't take some time off after high school. I only went off to college b/c it was what my parents expected me to do. I was near the top of my class in school and I was in the gifted and talented program all through my 12 years in school. I was burned out. I got so tired of being the academic star all the time and doing what everyone expected of me. I regret that I didn't enjoy high school more. Because I was made to study all the time and go to church everytime the door was open (remember that Steve Harvey joke about church? That was true for me!), I missed out on normal teenage things like dating, having and hanging out with friends, going to the prom, etc. So when I got to college, I lost my dayum mind. I drank, partied, had sex all the time, and flunked out. Then I got pregnant. I love my son, but I wish I didn't have him at 19.
While I regret having my son at such a young age, his birth was the catalyst for a lot of things in my life. I stopped drinking, partying, and having indiscriminatory sex. I got up enough courage to break away from my family's oppressive religious beliefs and my hometown's small-minded mentalities to come to Michigan where I didn't know a single soul and made a life for myself. I will never regret that for a single moment.
Right now though, I regret that I didn't get a teaching certificate along with my social work degree in undergrad b/c now with the budget crisis in the social services sector, social workers are not in demand as much as they used to be. I have a job as a direct care worker at a youth runaway shelter, but it does not pay much or provide benefits. I just got passed over for a counseling position b/c I haven't been at the agency long enough and it will be a while before another slot opens. So now I'm seriously considering going back and getting a 2nd bachelors in education and THEN going back to grad school to finish my MSW. Hopefully, this will work out.
