Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)

Bare with me - this is long and complicated...

My DD will be 4 months old on 9/14. I never planned to be a SAHM although I would love to be, financially it was never in the cards. I went in the hospital with pre-eclampsia and ended up delivering at 33w. It was really traumatic. DD ended up in the NICU for half of my maternity leave. At the end of my 8 weeks of leave I asked my bosses if I could work from home for the rest of the summer so I could mostly take care of DD. They basically said no but to take 3 more weeks and figure it out but be back full time by 8/1. During that time I was able to extend my disability for another 12 weeks (company is too small for FMLA). My bosses were extremely unhappy and in the end I am not going back at all although I got a severance deal from them.

Meanwhile I decided I would like to change careers and become an ultrasound tech (felt like this for a while but it seems like a good time since I don't have a job right now). There is a program that starts on 9/12 that takes 14 months to complete. In April our lease is up and we most likely will move into MILs two-family home. We would likely have done this even if I was working, but we decided we HAVE to do it if I won't be working. We were still considering not doing it if I was getting my old salary.

My old company (not the one that just fired me) said I could come back on a freelance basis. The day pay rate is good although there are no benefits. I left the company because the management is crazy and there was a ton of unnecessary stress, that hasn't changed. However I am led to believe that the freelancers don't deal too much with this. It could turn into a permanent job, but there are no guarantees and I'm not even sure that's what I'm looking for. If I go back to school now I would not do the freelance work because they are looking for more than one day a week.

If I do go back to school this year I have to find some hourly care for DD since DH works from home a lot but his schedule is different every week so he can't commit to all of the hours we would need childcare. But I would need something flexible since some days/weeks would be less hours than others. The classes run Mon-Thursday 9am-3pm and it's about 15 minutes from home. The classes last 7.5 months. After that I would be in a clinical rotation where my hours would change. If I do not do the program this year in September, the next one does not start again until NEXT September.

From all of my research I can collect unemployment while in school because the school meets all of the necessary criteria for unemployment (more than 12 hours a week, completed within 24 months, and gives ability to get full time employment upon completion.

Re: Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)

IMO get school out of the way. US tech programs tend to be competitive and you may not even get into the actual program until next year or longer, you may even get waitlisted. You may have prereqs to complete prior to entering the program as well. If you have the chance to do it now? DO IT.

And the longer you wait to go back to school the harder it becomes. Go now while you are still motivated to do it. A year off from work you may just decide to suck it up and go back to your former career having forgotten your current sentiment, KWIM?

Re: Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)

also wanted to add (I would edit but I didnt want to cancel out the name of the post LOL ) that I could not go back to school, take the freelance and work as many days as I can and hope it turns into something permanent...and then change careers in the future if it does not...

Although part of me feels like if I dont go back to school NOW it will never happen. i've literally been talking about going back to school for YEARS. But I always had a job and I'm not the type to quit my job and go back.

A big part of me is also sad to leave my DD so young.. but anything is better than the 7am-8pm 5 days a week and working at home on the weekend which is what I was doing at my last job (the one that fired me)...

Re: Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)

Re: Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)

If you have a spot? TAKE IT!!!!!!!!!!

I promise you the time will fly by. DH just graduated for funeral directing. It was a hard 2 years but looking back? It flew by and was so worth it.

Re: Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)

Is this an accredited program? Do not waste your time or money on a NON-accredited program. You cannot take your licensing exams until you have worked full time for a full year in the field of ultrasound. Trouble is this....you will have a hard time getting a job without your license. and the non-accredited programs put you between a rock and a hard place.


NY - New York
Albany College of Pharmacy - Albany, NY
ASA Institute of Business & Computer Tech Inc - Brooklyn, NY
Bassett Healthcare - Cooperstown, NY
Broome Community College - Binghamton, NY
Bryant & Stratton Business Institute - Syracuse - Syracuse, NY
Bryant & Stratton College - Rochester - Rochester, NY
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CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College - New York, NY
Dutchess Community College - Wappingers Falls, NY
Elmira Business Institute - Elmira, NY
Erie Community College - North Campus - Orchard Park, NY
Everest Institute - Rochester - Rochester, NY
Genesee Community College - Batavia, NY
Hudson Valley Community College - Troy, NY
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Long Island University - Brooklyn, NY
Memorial Sloan - Kettering Cancer Center - New York, NY
Mohawk Valley Community College - Utica, NY
Molloy College - Rockville Centre, NY
Monroe Community College - Rochester, NY
Nassau Community College - Garden City, NY
New York Methodist Hospital - Brooklyn, NY
New York University - New York, NY
New York University Medical Center - New York, NY
Niagara County Community College - Sanborn, NY
North Shore University Hospital/LIU/CW Post Campus - Manhasset, NY
Onondaga Community College - Syracuse, NY Loading...
Ridley - Lowell Business and Technical Institute - Poughkeepsie, NY
Ridley-Lowell Business & Technical Institute - Binghamton, NY
Rochester Institute of Technology - Rochester, NY
St Johns Riverside Hospital - Yonkers, NY
St Johns University - Fresh Meadows, NY
Stony Brook University - Stony Brook, NY
SUNY Downstate Medical Center - Brooklyn, NY
SUNY Upstate Medical University - Syracuse, NY
Trocaire College - Buffalo, NY
Ulster County Board of Cooperative Ed Service - Port Ewen, NY
Ulster County Community College - Stone Ridge, NY
Westchester Community College - Valhalla, NY
Western Suffolk BOCES - Dix Hills, NY

http://www.caahep.org/Find_An_Accredited…

Re: Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)

Go back to school! The program is very short. Take loans if you need to. Sounds like the perfect time to do this. If you don't do it now, you will never do it. Go for it!

Re: Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)

Re: Help Me with these Career/School Options (parenting related)