Justin's Going Back to School!

As promised in my last blog, here I am filling you in on Justin's newest adventure.

When I met Justin, he had just finished playing ball overseas and decided to come back to K-State to finish up his degree.  At the time, he had no idea what he wanted to do with that piece of paper, other than just finish it up.

May 2008 rolled around and it was time for him to graduate.  He had recently found out that he only needed to take 3 graduate-level classes to acquire his "coaching certificate."  In order to coach at the collegiate level, it's required to have this certification.  3 years ago, Justin thought it would be neat to some day coach but the last thing he wanted to do was stay in school.  He was ready for a paycheck!

Once Justin graduated, he quit his job doing road construction (horrible, nasty hot work but it paid pretty good money as a student!) and started working for Asplundh Tree Experts.  Justin loves his job at Asplundh and the company also provides a pretty decent benefit package...but some jobs are just that--a job.  Not a career.

A few weeks ago, Justin randomly decided to call his old advisor about obtaining his coaching certificate.  TURNS OUT, he only needs one undergraduate class.  Not 3 grad classes!

His advisor pulled up the class schedule and they're offering "Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries" as a summer class.  It's 4 days a week, for 4 weeks during the month of July.

Talk about great news!

What does this mean for us?  I have no idea.  Justin has always dreamed of getting on with the railroad but that's proving easier said than done.  He's applied online for several positions and each time, he gets an automated response back within minutes stating he isn't qualified. 

My theory is that maybe the railroad isn't meant to be.   He has experience with operating and maintaining large equipment, he easily meets the physical requirements (and then some!), he has the required education and Supervisory experience.  But the stupid online application won't even open the door for an interview.

Justin's theory is that the coaching certificate will be his "back-up plan" or something he can do when he gets older.  His main concern is that as a coach you are never home with your family and at some point, we would like to have a few rugrats running around.

Personally, I think Justin is a natural fit for coaching and he has many contacts in the field that he can utilize when the time comes.  He would be excellent at his job and I think he needs to pursue it sooner rather than later.  However, it would be him doing the coaching, recruiting and traveling--not me--so I am trusting his call on this one.  Guess we'll just have to see what happens!