Pamplico mother endures challenges on way to second career

Annie Melvin of Pamplico is one many parents who finds herself currently without a job.

Before economic difficulties hit Annie, she worked in retail while obtaining a degree in small business management from Florence Darlington Technical College. Hard times struck when she lost her job after her employer was forced to declare bankruptcy. After running a daycare out of her home for three years—during which time she had two more children—the then mother of three decided to attempt the difficult task of pursuing a second career.

Her long road would start back at Florence Darlington Tech, where she sought a degree in radiology, a medical occupation and in the area she first intended to go into before making a last minute switch to business management her first time in school.

Annie isn’t the only person heading back to school in hopes of landing employment later on. According to a 2008 survey by the MetLife Foundation and San Fransisco think tank Civic Ventures, more than 8 million Americans were seeking “encore” careers, changing their fields of employment in hopes of further economic prosperity.

Those numbers may continue to rise given the current economic climate. According to the United States Department of Labor, Beauru of Labor and Statistics web site, national unemployment was 9.6-percent in August. With so many Americans looking for work, some like Annie are electing to go back to school rather than simply start job hunting.

The challenges of pursuing a second career are difficult enough on their own, but for Annie and other parents the task is that much harder.

Annie said her days began at 6:00a.m. After getting her kids ready, she would drop them off at school and from there drive from Pamplico to Florence Darlington Tech. School for mom would last until around 5:00p.m., then it was back home to pick the kids at her mother’s house in Pamplico and help them with homework while she made supper.

More homework with the kids would follow, then bedtime for the tots and just a few precious hours for mom to do her own assignments.

“I never got to bed until 11:30, 12:00 at night,” she said. 

As if three kids and a hectic routine weren’t enough, Annie found out she was pregnant with her fourth child, Rebecca, during her last semester at tech. That was right around the time she decided to take her education even further and enroll at Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC to study radiation therapy.

Annie said she was able to go back to tech and then to PCC with after applying for various grants and scholarships that helped ease the economic strain normally associated with schooling costs. Nationally, financial aid is becoming more and more common as the federal government continues programs to put those seeking additional learning back in the classroom.

According to Opportunity.gov, a government website dedicated to helping those seeking financial aid, Federal Pell Grants that can provide up to $5,350 for community college, college, university, and many trade and technical school costs are available to many Americans pursue another degree.

However, even with financial aid things still aren’t easy for people in Annie’s position.

Once a week for an entire semester, Annie would wake up at 4:00a.m and make the three-hour commute to Greenville for a day of classes. Sixteen hours later, she would be back home in Pamplico for more homework—both hers and the kids—and a few precious hours of sleep.

On days when she wasn’t making the jaunt to Greenville, Annie was completing clinical hours in Florence three days a week. While Fridays were supposed to be her day off, because she was pregnant it became the day to make up work when doctors appointments interfered with her many other commitments during the week.

Through it all, she would drop her kids off at school every morning, pick them up when she could, and attend as many school functions as possible.

“She was pregnant, working going to school, and bring her babies here, and making sure they get here and that was an everyday thing” Judy Moore, the director of the Head Start program in Pamplico, said. “And she’s been always smiling.”

Rebecca, now nine-months old, gets to enjoy her mother’s company more now that graduation has come and gone, and Annie—who graduated with straight A’s— has been afforded a little more time to relax. Right after she finished her classes at Pitt Community College, the entire family went on a Florida vacation.

Now all that’s left is to find a job.

According to the United States Department of Labor, 261,000 more Americans found themselves without jobs in August; however, there is still hope for people like Annie. 290,000 Americans found work last month, according to the department.

Annie said strong support from her family helped her get through the early mornings, late nights and mountain of coursework. Even though she hasn’t gotten a job in her chosen field yet, Annie said after doing what she just did, anything seems possible.

“It really isn’t impossible to follow your dreams, whatever you want to do,” she said. “I know I always wanted to do this. I knew it would be hard but I never gave up.”