last day as a youth educator

I decided it was best for me, my personal and mental health to change jobs. I was working as a youth educator with 14 children. Since I started my undergraduate degree, I have been inspired to work with seniors and older adults. I decided, with the help of my loving husband that now would be the best time to do that. I had a wonderful offer from my part time job, at a retirement home to go full time. Everything was falling into place, except I was really scared to leave this job. What would the children think? What would the parents think? Would they think I was leaving because I didn't want to work with them anymore? It was really hard to have all these thoughts and ideas come into my head. I knew that this was the best thing for me, I wanted other people to know that. 

When I told my families and the children, I received a lot of support. In PEI, I know that people understand the need for full-time employment with benefits, flexible hours or whatever someone really needs. Many of my parents were impressed with the decision that I made. One of my parents was very happy with my decision and she told me "Alyssa, you need to do what you need to do". My children were mostly sad, and some of the younger ones didn't quite understand why I had to leave. It was interesting to me that some of the younger children didn't necessarily understand that people make career changes. I guess when I was probably their age, I would have thought that someone does something for their whole lives. 

Now was the right time. I start my new position next week and I am looking forward to this learning curve. I am looking forward to working with this new age group. I really hope that this new opportunity will open other doors for me, especially in terms of working with older adults and seniors and helping them realize their potential as members of a community and members of PEI.