by desib77 5 Replies latest jw friends
I know most JWs are encouraged to take worthless jobs and barely scrape by so as to spend more time in the ministry. I was fortunate to have my dad encourage me to do something more with my life than house cleaning. I followed in his steps and became a civil draftsman....(draftsperson )
What do you do? Did you attend college? Did you do your current job as a JW? Are you happy with what you do?
Desi
What do you do? I teach computer science for a community college at home/online and on campus.
Did you attend college? Yes, UT Austin and El Centro Community College.
Did you do your current job as a JW? nope
Are you happy with what you do? Very much so! I get to meet new people all the time and constantly keep learning.
Sincerely,
District Overbeer
When I became a JW, I was 21. I had gained a certificate in computerized accounting (bookkeeping) from a business college (6 month course). That allowed me to get a job with a large telecom company (telco), doing clerical work completely unrelated to bookkeeping...the company merely wanted some sort of certificate/diploma/degree before hiring. I was just considering going back to University to be a teacher when I was witnessed to and became a JW.
My job in the telco went from a basic sales clerk position to a specialized department where we responded to legal documents that requested quotes and information. I took training specific to being able to interpret and respond to these documents, as well as technical writing (transforming technical jargon to plain language for laypersons). I was offered a buyout from my company in lieu of downsizing, and took it. 2 months later (June 2003) I'd completed my Technical and Business Writing certification.
Because of the lump sum payout, I took some time off. Then I took a 6 month contract as a Writer for an international financial audit firm. That ended in Feb, I left JWs in January. Now I'm finishing my first course toward my Bachelor of English and collecting unemployment until another contract comes my way.
I love writing, and I think that being a JW I was stunted in that, which really crippled a part of me. Now that I can write freely, whether it's for work or creatively, I feel like I got myself back. So I'm happy.
EVERYTHING WE NEVER DID -
DESIB -- my dad was like yours. He was/is an elder, but he thought it was nonsense that many JW's thought it was so great to do menial work like cleaning when they could get a little education and earn more money with less work.
As a "good" JW, I didn't go to college. But I did attend a technical school and learned computer programming. I have been in the field for about 24 years now. I was a JW when I started in my career (oops -- you can't say you have a secular "career" and be a JW!!!), and have continued as a programmer (analyst/developer, software engineer, whatever term you like) during my 4 years outside the Borg.
It's a good career.
Well I went to a Junior college the year before I left the witnesses to be a Computer Programmer, it was a 2 year "acceptable" program. While I was there I found I didn't want to make video games I liked writing them so I switched majors and went to a real university where I got an academic scholarship. Well I majored in English there because I thought I'd never get a job with a Creative Writing degree and hated it, finally switched to Creative Writing and ran out of Financial Aid. So now I'm a semester away from graduation but all is well I have a job at Metlife doing customer service that will pay for that last semester. Lovely eh? If I were to run down my jobs it would take the rest of the board so I'll just stop by the cool ones, secretary for the water dept of the State, Mortgage Underwriter, Denyer of insurance claims and Accountant at Providence Journal.
