Life is GOOD!

by Merrie Cunningham
Edited by: Jo Ann M. Whiteman,
TechEd Times Writer

This is the story of my educational journey. I graduated high school early (I had just turned 17 in December. I graduated in January the following year. I was so excited to work full-time. Since I was 15 years old I was working "part-time" (12pm to 8 pm.). I was in the work study program in high school so I actually received course credit for working. When I graduated, at 17 years of age, I got a full-time job at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach in the Respiratory Care Department. While I was working I decided to go back to school to Miami Dade Community College. I also decided to get a second job in the evening working in reservations for Air Florida Airlines. School was not possible with all the work I was doing, and of course making money.

Then I moved to Gainesville, Florida and worked at Shands hospital in the billing department, then in the patient care areas as a secretary. I decided to continue my education as a Systems Analyst at Santa Fe Community College as the hospital provided tuition reimbursement if I worked full-time. While doing all this I also got married. Two years later we had our first child. Two years after that we had our second child. I actually had to take my son, as a newborn baby, with me to drop classes as I could not work full-time, take care of my children and go to school. I did try and this caused my marriage to end.

A year later I moved to Winter Park Florida and became an instructor in Technical Education at Orlando Tech. During this time I met someone and remarried. My new husband had three teenagers. I now had five children and was working part-time, actually almost full-time hours. This is when I decided to go back to school once again to finish my AA degree at Valencia Community College. Well five children a husband and a golden retriever puppy caused me to stop school once again. I actually did not make it in this marriage either. Work, school and now down to three children (the two girls went off to college themselves) and a dog I realized that the most important thing in my life was my family and raising my sons. After much counseling and effort, I divorced again, and managed to work full-time for nine years as a teacher and as a single parent. Believe it or not, at some time during this nine year period I returned to school once again and completed my AA degree from Valencia Community College.

I then met Dr. Larry Hudson. He was my on-line teacher at UCF. He was so encouraging and understanding of working parents trying to complete their education. I took several courses with Dr. Hudson toward my BS degree in Technical Education. As Dr. Hudson would say, life happens, and during Hurricane Charley I ran into a very good friend I had not seen in a while. We started dating. At this time my oldest son was off to college in Gainesville, Florida and my youngest son was in his last year of high school. I once again decided to put off my education to see if I wanted to pursue this new relationship. This new love of my life encouraged me to complete school and was very supportive. We married three years ago and I am finally completing my BS degree with UCF.

My father passed away last week, and along with all my other responsibilities on this journey, I was caring for him as he had Alzheimer's. He was a wonderful man. He loved education as he was a mechanical engineer and graduated from MIT a long time ago. I know he would be proud that I never gave up.

I have been a Technical Education instructor for Orange County Public Schools for 17 years. This year I was given the honor from my peers as "Teacher of the Year." I cannot express how thankful I am for working with such wonderful teachers and staff over the years. I also cannot express how thankful I am for the instructors that I have had over these years. They have been so encouraging and understanding. I do not think I could have made it without them. I especially want to thank Dr. Hudson for getting me started on my degree in Technical Education and Industry; however it was Dr. Joanne Whiteman that saw me through to the finish. She was there with Dr. Hudson encouraging me and taking over for him as his health deteriorated. She knew just what I needed when I needed it to keep on keeping on. She is wonderful to talk to about education and life. I especially enjoyed all the conversations we have had, sharing our hopes and our dreams for students.

I know that it is not over yet...this is just another part of my journey. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Life is GOOD!