A New Purrpose in Life

I'm not going to start this post talking about how it's been such a long time since I posted. Oh wait, I guess I just did. My excuse? Mid-life professional crisis. Just shy of 20 years I've been a graphic designer and I have suffered a burn-out of epic proportions. Last time I was feeling burned out I starting teaching at Delgado Community College and that helped relight the spark. But alas, I haven't had the opportunity to teach since 2006 and try as I might, the thrill is gone. You maybe thinking "suck it up" but when you are a business owner you have to love what you do or the business suffers as well as your soul.

Last Fall I experienced an "ah ha" moment. While sitting at my cats' vet's office, I spied a gal wearing scrubs that had "Delgado Vet Tech" embroidered on them. I didn't know exactly what a vet tech was at the time but I knew that's what I wanted to be. I wanted to work with animals and I was excited. I researched the program at Delgado and enrolled in January. There were a few classes I would need to take before I could apply for the program. Some of the classes I took back at FSU would qualify to fulfill prerequisites, but I needed biology and computer literacy. I'll let the irony of that last class sink in. Moi? Who taught computer classes at Delgado had to take one? The advisor who enrolled me asked if I had taken one when I was at FSU. HA! I'm not even sure if they had computer classes back then. Going back to school was a very interesting experience. Delgado's campus was familiar which helped and being a community college, there were people of all ages. I really enjoyed biology and bio lab and I will admit I did learn something in the computer class. I worked hard and got all As which I was proud of.

Delgado only accepts applications for the vet tech program once a year, in May. I would be completing the pre-reqs but what was missing is the 100 hours shadowing at a Veterinary office. Between studying and my graphic design business I just didn't have time so I decided to post-pone applying until the next year. I did have the idea to start a pet sitting and dog walking business in the mean time. That took a lot of time once I finished classes but I got incorporated, insured and now have a second business Petit Pet Care. While all this was going on, I talked to my friend and client, Michelle, who is the owner of Zeus' Place, about pet sitting. She said they needed a hand this summer and asked if I would be interested in working for her. Of course! I've been working part-time there now for a few months and I have learned a lot about animal care which can only be an asset to my new career path. Plus I get to care for dogs and cats, which I love. Play with a rescued kitty to help socialize it? Yes!

Will I still apply for the vet tech program? Not sure yet. There are a few other classes I can take that are required for graduation but not to apply that I can go ahead and get out of the way, which I will do. If you know me, you know I am a huge animal lover. I even have a blog dedicated to my cats, Gonzo for Cats and might start one for my pet sitting business. I'm excited about my new career path and have been enjoying learning more about pet care and animal behavior in addition to my lifelong ownership of various pets. The pet care industry is booming and there are several local pet sitters I have been talking with who have been very supportive and swear there is definitely room for another. I am still part owner of my graphic design business but not as active. My business partner, who has been amazingly supportive, has taken over the reins as I travel down this new and exciting path. Wish me luck!

As some of you may know, I used to teach at Delgado Community College. I was full time until I started my own company back in January 2005. After that, I taught one class a semester as an adjunct. I remember talking to my students on the first day of class of the Fall 2005 semester. I made a comment about how the fall semester before, we lost a week of classes because of hurricane evacuations. I said "Hopefully that won't happen again this year." DOH! How about missing a whole semester of classes? And the powers that be thought that it would be fine to host the college's website and data bases and so on, on campus with no off-site redundancy. Therefore, for weeks there was no DCC e-mail or website or data. They had to boat in to retrieve the hard drives if I remember correctly. If you had a non DCC email for someone you could try to reach them. Otherwise too bad.

Unfortunately, I have not taught there since, either because they didn't need me or scheduling conflicts. I miss teaching and being an adjunct was great. You show up, you teach class, you grade. You don't have to get involved in committees and other academic nonsense. I don't have much patience for bureaucracy, which is why I decided not to pursue teaching full-time and went back into private practice.

I haven't been back on campus other than to go to the Symphony book fair. I was sad to read this article in the T-P.

Meanwhile, Delgado is continuing its steady post-Katrina growth with 16,715 students this semester, 16 percent more than last fall and only 4 percent below its pre-storm high of 17,398, which it reached days before the hurricane struck in August 2005, Delgado spokeswoman Molly Jahncke said.

For the first time in Delgado Community College's 88-year history, the area's most populous institution of higher education has turned away 1,500 applicants because it ran out of building space.

About 40 percent of the square footage of the City Park campus' buildings is out of commission, including the library.

... eight of the 21 buildings on the City Park campus are unusable.

They used to have stuff about the flooding after the federal levees flooded, including photos, but that appears to no longer be on the web site. There isn't even a mention of it under "Our History." I typed in Katrina in the search box and the info does still live, Hurricane Katrina Chronicals, just no recognizable links from the current website.