Joan Hill:  

I think for young people who aren't sure what they want to do with their lives, college can be a very good thing. After all, the first two years, everyone is required to take pretty much the same courses. So you can be undecided about what you want to be "when you grow up" for those additional two years! It gets trickier after that. But I always knew I liked working with people, as opposed to non-living things, so I gravatated toward courses like psychology, and the humanities. I'll never forget getting my BA in psychology and not being able to find any employment that had a thing to do with it. I ended up pumping gas at a gas station in Petaluma, rationalizing that, in a way, I was "working with people"; I'd guess what kind of personality they had based on the car they drove. Those were the days when you even had to wash the car windows and check the oil gauge. Did not take me long to realize I needed to further my education, so I went back to school and decided an MSW would be a good choice. I worked as a drug/rehab counselor in Fresno to help put me through college. Graduating from Fresno State, I got my first MSW job in San Luis Obispo. I loved living there, but was worried about the nuclear power plant looming so close by. After a few years I moved back to Sonoma County, where I had earlier fallen in love with the vast mustard fields, and sheer beauty. I worked 25 years for the State of California licensing group homes, homes for the elderly, the disabled and the mentally ill. Last 7 years or so, I became the Child Care Advocate, covering 8 northern California counties. I met with city and county ...Expand for more