| + | Math/Computers/Education/Career | ª | i |
(This page is about Mickie.)
I love math! I have a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and had left working at Microsoft to pursue my lifelong dream of teaching Mathematics. I had considered teaching at the community college level, but after taking a handful of math refresher courses I realized that to properly prepare for a Master's in Math would require additional years of math review, and I was hoping to be working as a teacher within a few years. So, I decided instead to pursue a Master's in Education, and explore teaching high school or junior high.
After I moved to California, I entered a teaching credential and MEd program, but while all my classes went very well, student teaching was a different story. God bless teachers! I really enjoy tutoring and working with students one on one or in very small groups, but through student teaching (and later adventures in homeschool co-op teaching) I have definitely determined that classroom management is not a skill I possess.
So, I ventured back into the world of Software Testing, and through a few different experiences over the years I have decided that I really enjoy working in software when my position involves making order out of chaos, provides a fair amount of interaction with others on the team, and offers a decent work-life balance.
Once I was married and expecting a little addition to the family, I was able to leave the workforce for a time and take care of our little one. Currently my focus is on educating our youngster and taking care of our home, but I am considering next steps which may involve anything from private tutoring of Math and SAT Prep, to part time work in technical writing or software QA, to full time work in any of those areas, to retraining in QA to add automation skills to my resume, a slight veer into Project Management, or a complete career change into Music/Choral Directing (if I go back to school for some significant length of time.) We shall see what the future holds...