Thursday, October 30, 2014

The End Is Near and It Is The Month Of November

So I have been officially given my official official walking papers. At the end of November, I can no longer work part time. I will have to get unemployment unless I find another position and I will have to get insurance through the Exchange in the middle of November.

I am lucky to be living in a state that has not only embraced many of the stipulations of the Affordable Care Act but has been leading the country in many instances, such as expanding Medicaid and establishing Health Enterprise Zones. While we are far from perfect (especially after last years e-sign up) there have been lots of improvements according to officials and I've been to enough conferences to see that this year will be a much needed improvement. The downside is that Medicaid and Medicare recipients will have to reapply due to the new system not being able to convert the old information, but the State & Health Department have been gradually sending that information out so that the recipients don't all try to reapply at once and there is an unnecessary backlog. My mother actually has to pick a new plan for my grandmother by the first week of November (I believe the 5th.)

Personally, I feel excited to see a lot of the things that I have been indirectly involved in coming to fruition and affecting the lives of millions. It is probably one of the main reasons I feel so bad, knowing that I will no longer be in this position.

What I've learned during almost all of 2014 is that everything can change so quickly. Job and financial security is not guaranteed and I've had to borrow money from my family to make sure bills were paid on time. I've made sure I talked with my creditors so that they understood that I was underemployed and would have to come up with a better payment plan. I've learned that I spend ENTIRELY too much on food. I also have started to take my health more seriously since my current medication was making some of my other issues worse (ahh the viscious cycle). I've learned that I wasn't as humble as I thought I was.

I loved working at Johns Hopkins. It was full of seminars and lecture series I could go to for free. I had a great boss and coworkers. I felt like the world was my oyster. Now, not so much. Now I feel like you are one grant denial away or not having a HR buzzword away from unemployment. I already miss the seminars and lectures because I'm looking for full-time employment.

This blog was supposed to be a journey for me to hopefully get accepted into the PhD program or expand my research. Instead it took a turn for the worse and the journey spiraled downward. It is very sad.

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