September, 2001 marked a pivotal change in my career. In the middle of summer I received an email from a former campaign contact who works at a Midland-based public policy research and educational institute. Since I was just getting my feet wet working as an agent at ERA Central Real Estate in Mt. Pleasant, initially I let the idea of working with the institute slip to the back of my mind. Once I had the time to think about it, I realized that this was exactly what I was looking for. Following the campaign in Lansing my primary goal was to continue fighting for education reform through the institute. A short time later I traveled over to Midland to meet with the Director of Leadership Development for the institute. Some key contacts made on the campaign trail proved to be beneficial. I went over a couple weeks later for final interviews and later that week I received an offer from the institute, which I accepted. I worked a few partial days at the end of September and began full-time as the coordinator for the institute's education reform initiatives on October 1, 2001. The environment in Midland is very exciting, very energetic, and most importantly it has become the avenue to my pursuing a passion for education reform that developed as a result of my work in Lansing. I now travel from Mount Pleasant to Midland five days a week. For the first month or so of my employment in Midland I continued to work at the Italian Oven, but the time has come to throw in the hat there. I can now enjoy the peace of having most weekends free! |