Let's Start with Returning to Graduate School, But First... in Personal Essays

A quick overview. A lot happened to me between the years 2017-2019. In 2017, two units ruined all the hard work I contributed as a university employee. Reflecting on it, the job I worked at one unit completely gaslit me for close to a year. However, what they didn’t know is when I drew unemployment, I made sure to provide a detailed explanation of being fired because of my race and gender. That I had gone to EOO and filed a complaint against them. If it was not for my therapist, I would have gone insane. It is beyond fucked up how many employers have ruined people’s lives because they feel threatened that their corruption and evilness will be exposed.

The next unit I worked for was no better. Instead, they passively humiliated—both the directors—and told them that I needed to find another position. I inquired why they were firing me, and they said that Human Resources advised them not to tell me. However, I had suspected that the technology manager they hired manipulated them to get rid of me. Or another high-profile individual from another unit. But do you want to know the kicker?

The kicker was that they wanted me to stay and work until the end of the fall semester. The amount of work they wanted me to do to keep them sailing smoothly while they found someone else was insulting. So, you know what I did?

I wrote a professional, official letter of resignation. I placed it in an envelope along with my office key. Let me tell you. That threw their asses in a whirlwind. They thought that they were going to gain labor from me after they humiliated me in one of the director’s offices. You know what? Your evil asses can scramble to do the work.

And they did. They did want the training manual I had, but they were scared to contact me because the Human Resources department may not reveal everything that was in my file—like the EOO complaint and the Department of Labor having on record that I was unjustly let go.

Whatever the case may be, they reached out to their old assistant to contact me via social media to get this training/information manual returned to them. I did not want anything to do with these horrid folks, so I drove to the unit, handed the business manager this training/information manual, and kept it moving.

I had a little money to tie me over until I made my next move. At the time, my partner suggested that I attend my certified nursing assistant school to become a certified CNA. I signed up and paid attention. I attended an eight-week session where my classmates and I were taught the basics.

But let me tell you, all kinds of crazy drama transpired in this class.

Everyone was attending the class for different reasons or goals. Some folks wanted to become a certified CNA because it would help them become a Physician Assistant. Some folks wanted a CNA certification because they wanted to stop working at their minimum-wage job—and wanted to have the opportunity to advance financially and socially. Then, you had those who already did CNA work but did not have professional certification for it. Again, they wanted more opportunities.

Then, you had those who were misguided or did not completely understand the process because it appeared that they did not take it seriously. There was one student who was hilarious but also dangerous. From the way she behaved, if she did not encounter any roadblocks, she would have severely harmed someone. She seemed like she would have harmed someone because of her temper.

This is where the drama plays out. One of the other students did not like her. She did not like that she was unprofessional. I was more concerned that this student was going to medically harm her patients. So, the student who did not like her continued to ask me and others in confidence should we report her. I shared with the student that the other student did not do anything to warrant us reporting her. Meaning, the “problematic” student did not harm anyone.

At the end of the course when we did our assessments to get our CNA license, the “problematic” student did not pass hers. I think that she was the only one out of the class who did not pass the class.
After passing my assessments, I started to look for employment. My partner helped me secure a job at one of the senior citizen facilities that was not far away from us. While I was working there, I was also involved in applying for a graduate program.

To Be Continued….
—S