I’ve decided not to pursue paramedicine.
It kinda breaks my heart, but there it is. In BC, it’s basically not possible to start as a paramedic with BC Ambulance anywhere near Vancouver. And that was okay when I was just a single girl with my dog. A couple of years in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t kill me, and might even be fun for a change.
But… that’s not the case now. It’s not just me, it’s the man I’m crazy in love with, and I can’t bear the idea of being anywhere from 6-16 hours away by car. Honestly, starting off as a paramedic in this province isn’t easy to start with — crappy hours, low pay, a ton of work… there’s a reason BC Paramedics are on strike.
Maybe someone should mention this to BCAS? Dear BCAS: You are losing awesome new paramedics because the cost of entry is way too high for not enough reward. Stop that.
I knew all that, and I was willing to deal with it… until Nick. Damnit.
Nick, of course, works in an industry that is very Vancouver-centric. He’s got a mortgage. His ties here aren’t easily relocated to whatever 2-bit village I could get hired in. And, he makes way more than I do — and will continue to, for the foreseeable future, so it’s not even a question of if he could come with me. That would be ridiculous. Seventeen steps back to go one step forward? No, that’s just dumb.
So I’ve kind of been putting the whole thing on hold and not really thinking about it lately. But, 1 month ago, my EMR certificate expired (so I’d have to retake that), and so … I have to start thinking about what I’m doing now. Because apparently paramedicine isn’t it, and I’m not too happy about floundering about aimlessly.
I have some ideas that I’ve shared with a few people, but I’m not quite ready to make public yet. I still very, very much want to stay in health care. It’s fascinating, and quite frankly I love it so much more than I could have anticipated in my teens. Which explains my high school science grades, since if I’m not interested in something, I don’t bother trying. (I can’t explain the good mark in math. That one just confuses me.) So my first goal is going to be to upgrade a couple high school science classes or replace them with entry level University classes. They’re basically the same ‘level’, but the high school upgrades are free… but take longer. Biology, for one — I never took it in high school, and it’s something that will help me no matter what I choose.
So, I’m kind of excited. It looks like no matter what I come up with, I’m going to be taking some classes in the fall. This is good, I miss casual education.
It’s a little rough, and I’m a little sad. But, I refuse to think of it as giving up my dream. I could get really, really resentful of Nick if I did that, and it’s certainly not his fault — he’s never once asked me to give up anything. This is all me, baby. But… I’m modifying it a little. I’m okay with modifying my dream if it means sticking with the best thing that ever happened to me.
I think that you’ve realized the important bit: what you want is to be in health care, and the job title is less important. It’s good to be a little flexible about the details as long as you’re building a life that reflects your values and dreams.
Things happen for a reason hun so just hold on tight, see where life takes you and smile. xxJ
It’s good to see you go with what makes you happy, even if reality requires compromise sometimes. The rest of the details are less important.
I know, that’s like, cloud-speak. I don’t think making compromises is giving up tho.