Following the Glad Path

            Big news: I have officially become a mid-life career changer. Well, not exactly a career-changer. I’m staying within the field of education, but the path I’m about to travel is quite different from anything I’ve done as an educator yet.

The decision to leave my full-time counseling position at the end of this semester has been a long time coming. About four years ago I realized that counseling was not what I wanted to do for the long term. At the time, though, I didn’t know what I wanted to do instead. I toyed with the idea of voice acting, but after taking a few voice acting classes, I learned how competitive that industry is. Then I explored copyediting, even finishing a certificate in copyediting from the University of California San Diego Extension. By the end of the program, however, I had realized that working for the publishing industry probably wouldn’t be a good fit for me. Completing the certificate did help me improve my own writing skills, though, and it reminded me of how much I used to enjoy teaching English as a second language. So after taking a refresher course in teaching English to speakers of other languages, I decided that returning to teaching ESL was the route to go. After speaking privately with one of my supervisors, though, I decided to give counseling one more year.

          Then last summer, after unexpectedly finding extra time on my hands, I took another course through UCSD Extension, Introduction to Online Learning. It was very interesting, and immediately afterwards I took the second course in the six-course certificate program. Those courses introduced me to instructional design. I started reading some books and exploring websites on my own, and the more I discovered, the more right it felt for me.

          Instructional design synthesizes most of my interests and skills as an educator: theories and best practices in teaching and learning; audio and video production; writing and copyediting; and multimedia and educational technologies. It is more creative than counseling, more tactile and active, and it is more project- and product-based, resulting in a tangible outcome in the form of an online class or workshop. And it’s dynamic: learning is assessed and revisions are made on an ongoing basis, so the product and process don’t become stagnant.

          Instructional design also appeals to my inner geek. I’m fascinated by anything technological, even if I don’t have a clue as to how it works. But that’s OK, because instructional design isn’t about the technology; it’s about the teaching and learning that occur in digital environments and how human beings make virtual connections to construct learning collaboratively within those environments.

          So 2014 will be a year of transition for me. I’ve made a plan: By the end of the year, I will complete the certificate in online teaching through UCSD Extension. I will also take a couple of classes at the community college where I work now. I’ll investigate professional associations for instructional design, including the American Society for Training and Development, and maybe even find a conference to attend. And I’m considering looking for an internship in instructional design early next year.

          This will be the first time in my life that I will be using social media to explore job opportunities and promote myself. This blog connects with my Facebook account, and anyone interested can find me easily on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mjisham/. Another of my 2014 goals is to get a personal website up and running, which will offer another digital venue for self-promotion.

          Besides pursuing the certificate, training in instructional design, and creating my own website, I plan to give some attention to a couple of book projects that have been languishing in the cobwebs of my mind for far too long. The characters in those stories are clamoring to get out.

          And I would like to take this opportunity to thank President Obama and the supporters of the Affordable Care Act for helping to make this decision possible. The main reason I left teaching twelve years ago is because I felt pressure (mostly from myself) to find a full-time job with a retirement plan and health benefits, which were not offered in the term-to-term assignments I had as an ESL teacher. Thanks to the ACA, I can afford to pay for my own health insurance, and maybe even explore the “American dream” of being self-employed. Yes, I may have to work until I’m eighty before I can retire, but if I’m doing work that I find enjoyable and fulfilling--work that matches my skills, interests, values, and personality--then work will be a pleasure.

          In the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, there is a First Nations proverb on the wall in one exhibit that reads, “Follow the path that makes your heart feel glad.” As a person of faith, I believe that if we listen to our hearts as well as our heads, then we will be blessed and become all that we are meant to be. And who says we have to stay on the same path for the rest of our lives? For many, there is joy in following various paths to explore new avenues of self-discovery. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in The Lord of the Rings that “…not all those who wander are lost…” Eighty is twenty-nine years away for me, so Lord willing, that’s a lot of paths to travel. As I begin my journey on this new path, I pray that my heart finds its song, along with the courage to go in directions that make it feel glad.