So Now What???

So last week I mentioned that I was going to go back to school but as of last Thursday those plans have changed. I registered to take classes for a Meeting and Event Planning Certificate at a University close to where I live. I signed up for this after much deliberation about two months ago. Less than a WEEK before the first class was scheduled to start I received an email stating that the course was cancelled due to low enrollment but it would be offered in the Winter session along with another one of the classes that was also cancelled. There are 5 classes in this program. Three are required and then you have to take 2/3 of the offered electives in order to complete the program. Easy Peasy. WRONG. You must be enrolled or have completed the main course in order to take the other classes so here I am now having to decide what to do. They dropped the main course but waived it so I could take the one of the cores and two electives and then finish the other two in the winter. Sounds good if there weren't too many other factors interfering. So after much debate, I decided it would be best to just get a full refund which is what I did. So, now what?

A little history on my education. I have a BS in Community Health which I never plan to use. I intended on becoming a Health Inspector but lost interest when I began working for a Sports League doing Event Planning. I fell in love with it. I love all the details that go into events, the high energy of it all and the satisfaction of a successful event, even if there were some bumps in the road. I worked in this field for about 3 years before I resigned from my job due to other life circumstances. But my love of the field has never stopped. About 5 years ago, I applied for an online program and withdrew prior to starting and was able to receive a full refund. ALOT has happened in the past 5 years, some good, some bad.

I currently have a job that I do not love. I love the people I work with and the progression of the type of industry I am in but often am left with the feeling that I should be doing something else. And that something else always comes back to events. So about a year ago I started researching online programs. I found two that are reputable. But they were expensive and require a lot of time. I work 45-50 hrs a week with a long commute so I just kept the idea on the shelf. Also, with the type of work I do, I will constantly be moving. And as fun as it is to travel, it can get tiring having to move and start a new life in a new city every two yrs or so. I am at the point where I am wanting something more stable. I am also not getting any younger and hate this feeling that I could be doing something I have a passion for.

I could probably get back into the field based on my years of experience and previous employer alone but I wanted to have more of the technical knowledge that comes with planning. People often laugh when I say that b/c everyone thinks it is so easy to plan events. There is ALOT of work that goes into it. So, I can register for one of the online programs and apply for jobs in that field once I am finished with schooling, or I could continue working at my job and pray that they will transfer me after I leave here, giving me a few more years to figure out what I want to do with my life. I know you are probably thinking after reading all of this, that signing up for the Event program would make the most sense, since that what makes me happy but now I am second guessing myself. Maybe there was a reason that the program at the Univ was cancelled. Maybe there is going to be a better opportunity for me down the road. But how do you know what the future has in store?

Decisions.........Decisions.........