By Amy Nielsen

My life is currently ruled by yellow sticky notes written in red ballpoint ink fluttering on the edge of my roll top desk in the deepening summer breeze from my open window. They often flit down like leaves from some academic olive branch, telling me exactly what is due this week and on what day. These neatly line up with the color coded squares on my google calendar which is auto populated by my school online learning platform. The dates come from the syllabi entered by the professors.

Without them I would be a very lost little lamby.

Every Sunday, the start of our school week, I spend an hour or so sorting through my class syllabi, printing out a packet of materials from each module, and marking the pages in textbooks that need reading. I take this time to read through the due dates and cross check them with my Google.

Last week, in going through my biochem syllabus, I discovered a discussion series – a lengthy initial post with peer reviewed journal support and a second shorter response post – was due before the on-campus portion of the class, rather than after as I had understood. After a few moments of panic while I figured out what exactly was due, I realized that I did, in fact, have time to complete the assignment since the material was on a topic I was already familiar with.

I really didn’t need the test of the system though.

The next step in my Sunday evening ritual is to double check the Google calendar against the almighty refrigerator calendar. For the last several eons of my life, the refrigerator calendar has been the repository of all things I must do. If it’s not on the calendar:

A) I will not know about it. Therefore

B) it most likely will not happen if it was meant to and

C) if you forget to add it, it’s your own fault.

The last added once I had other bodies for whom I am responsible; husband, kids, dog.

The refrigerator calendar is the brain. We are much too busy for me to even try to pretend I remember half of what I am supposed to be doing.

Thankfully, my school runs on a pretty predictable schedule for the most part. The school week starts on Sunday at 12 a.m. Most online classes have discussion series and other projects due on Wednesdays and Saturdays. On campus classes often have some topic to discuss the week before we arrive for lectures and a week to complete a test after.

 Once I have checked all of the places dates could be lurking, I go over the kids’ workbooks and changing playdate schedule. Because we still are in homeschool mode, I need to make sure my kids complete their allotted school work each day. We usually have this covered, but it is getting to be summer and the lure of the swings in the backyard grove is ever stronger as the mowers start to lift the scent of fresh cut grass. I am often tempted to give in to swings too.

Now to the red pen and yellow sticky notes. Each syllabus gets marked when I have completed an assignment with the date and if I feel necessary the topic of the submission. When I print out my packets for the module, I write a shorthand list of everything due that week in the upper right corner of the Learning Objectives page.
I use a red pen for three reasons. First, they are fifty cents a dozen in December at Walmart. Second, they are Paper Mate 1mm roller ballpoints. A pen in a class alone if you are that type of person. Third, I have dyslexia and reading blue or black ink on a black and white page gets lost to my eyes especially in the presence of led or florescent light. Red pen stands out and doesn’t make my eyes feel like the snakes from Robin Hood.

I use yellow sticky notes because I have an unholy obsession with them ever since I “helped” my Mom at her office when I was younger. Office supplies are my hording tendency. They are the perfect size and shape for just the right amount of information. They are sticky but not too sticky. And they smell neat.

Anyway, I write out each subject, the due dates and the topics, then line them all up in order of which is going to get worked on earlier in the week and what can hold off until later. My fluttering leaves of the academia tree.

This is all in an effort to cover my academic tush and make sure my kids don’t get left without a caregiver for days on end. So far in three terms, I have caught several assignments, a misloaded quiz, and only had to scramble once to make sure my kids were not home alone overnight while I was at school and my husband worked the graveyard shift at the prison. All hail the yellow sticky notes!

By Amy Nielsen

This week I am participating in two vastly different symposiums that neatly bracket my scope of practice. I am an integrative nutritionist, herbalist, and chef.

On Saturday I went to a day-long intensive class learning about the varied uses of one herb given by a visiting herbalist who is an expert in that plant. It was held at a world renowned herbalist’s school. On Wednesday, I will attend an end-of-the-year symposium discussing diverse research on the broader topic of metabolism given at Harvard honoring the graduating doctoral students in the program.

Integrative medicine is the bridge that links Western compartmentalized medicine with the whole person biopsychosocial framework held by traditional systems of healing. Integration of the delicate balance of the healing presence associated with many CAM modalities into the rigors of a double blind controlled clinical study is exactly what we need to learn to do.

So much of what is becoming understood about how molecular structures change is leading the drive to understand how we become us. We become us by what we ingest. However, there is arguably a lot more to healing than electron transport train function or cholesterol ratios.

But this is a lot of specific, technical speak that is pointedly of interest to those in my field and few others. The point here is that students of science are tasked with not only keeping up with the latest and greatest innovations but also finding ways to integrate lessons of the past.

Students learning to be integrative practitioners need to learn to be a walking thesaurus of sorts.

One of the dangers of integrating the old and new into the same research platforms is the distinct probability that the outcomes of the research will inevitably go to the highest bidder. It is the job of the student and practitioner, in my opinion, to give equal weight to scientific breakthroughs and the art of traditional medicine.

My current classes are both discussing how to write evidence based papers on integrative topics. That means big ole research papers supported with cited references. This first half of the term is dedicated to searching only biomedical databases of peer reviewed published data.

That is, understanding what criteria make up good research will come in handy when we move on to the next part, finding supporting data within the traditional modalities where there are no nicely indexed databases to search. Learning to distinguish good research from bad makes evaluating research in more obscure and unindexed realms more reliable.

On the flip side, learning how to design a study that truly takes into account both the compartmental needs of the gold standard clinical trial and the need for individualization of treatment present in many of the systems being studied will prove difficult. Herein the choice of cohort and treatment center will need to be carefully examined to ensure the least number of variables introduced into the study. Intraprofessional bias may be a hurdle to jump as well.

The ability to couple both kinds of research leads to well-rounded and supported changes in treatment that can find a place in both a biomedical practice and a traditional practice. Working in new and traditional research helps more patients in the long run, which is after all the whole purpose of doing research in the first place.

Spending concentrated time in both worlds keeps the flexibility of language moving, allows me to become a better practitioner and researcher.

As we move forward in the light speed realm of medical research, it behooves us to remember that not all gold standard trials result in the best treatment for every patient, nor does every ancient technique stand alone without support for the surrounding system.

Integrating the two takes the ability to speak several profession-specific languages while holding deep respect and compassion for the usefulness and necessity of all to heal the ailments of our collective patient base.

Navigating the VA disability claim can be one of the trickiest parts of leaving the military.

Even the term “disability” is confusing. One of the first questions my two teenagers asked when we explained my husband’s disability rating was: “Can we park in handicapped spots now?” The answer: No. Having a VA disability rating does not necessarily make one “disabled” in the way that term is usually applied.

Anyone who is retiring or separating from the military can file a claim for VA disability, even if they don’t have any visible injuries or issues that affect them on a daily basis. The point of a VA disability rating is to compensate servicemembers for injuries or medical conditions that arose during military service, and to ensure those injuries and conditions are cared for in the future.

Some cases are obviously more complicated than others, and VA disability is one of those many things where it seems like you ask one question and get a dozen different answers. I’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions below, based on my own experience and extensive research. It should be a good jumping off point for your own (exhaustive and exhausting) research. And, as always, mine is not an expert opinion. Always seek official sources for your own situation.

What is a VA claim?

A VA claim is a detailed packet of paperwork submitted as part of leaving the military. It includes medical records, details of any injuries or chronic conditions, and other information. The VA takes that packet and then sets up any medical appointments it deems necessary to gather additional evidence and screen the servicemember for a disability rating. The results of those appointments are then reviewed to determine if a disability rating is warranted for any of the injuries or conditions. There are eight steps in the VA claim process. You can find out more about them at this link: https://www.benefits.va.gov/COMPENSATION/index.asp.

What should be done to to prepare?

Start as soon as possible to document every medical condition. All those things your spouse never went to the doctor for because he or she didn’t want a profile, or didn’t want to take time off duty, or didn’t want to bother the doc? Yeah, all those things need to be looked at. Many people start do this during the last two or three years before retirement, when a.) they aren’t as worried about “looking bad” in front of their command, and b.) they realize that their time on active duty is nearing an end these things aren’t going to go away.

How long does it take?

I’ve known people who had their VA rating a week after retirement, and others who waited a year or more. The VA recently launched a new system called Benefits Delivery at Discharge, or BDD. This allows most servicemembers to submit their VA claim before they leave active duty. Under the previous system, a VA claim couldn’t be filed until after retirement or separation. The VA says most servicemembers who use the BDD system should expect to receive the results of their disability claim the day after they leave active duty. The key is that the claim must be submitted between 180 and 90 days before separation.

What’s a VSO and why should I use one?

A VSO is a Veteran’s Services Organization – think Veterans of Foreign wars (VFW), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), the American Legion, etc. Many of these groups are authorized by the VA to prepare and submit claims on behalf of servicemembers. They are experts, and they work for free. The VA has a list of such groups here: https://www.va.gov/vso/VSO-Directory.pdf.

Can a person who is rated 100 percent disabled by the VA still work?

Yes. There is a subset of VA disability called Individual Unemployability, or IU, but that is a separate rating that must be applied for in addition to the regular disability claim, and only a small number of veterans qualify.

How are disability percentages calculated?

This is the most complicated part of the process, and takes way more math brain power than I have. Here’s a link (scroll down to “Combined Ratings”) that might help you figure it https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/rates-index.asp. Good luck, though!

How is disability pay calculated?

Disability is a flat rate paid monthly based on percentage rating, and has nothing to do with rank or time in service. A junior enlisted servicemember who served only a short time will be paid the same amount as a senior officer who served 35 years. VA pay is also tax-free. There are some nuances (see CRDP below).

What is CRDP?

CRDP stands for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, and is also known as concurrent pay. It means the veteran is receiving both retirement pay and VA disability pay. The veteran must have a VA disability rating of 50 percent or more to receive concurrent pay. Below 50 percent, the amount of VA pay is deducted from the retirement pay and offset by the VA pay (but still tax free). You can read more about this also-complicated math here: https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/disability/crdp.html

What do the terms permanent and total, and service connected mean?

Permanent and total means the VA doesn’t ever expect the condition to improve. People who are not rated permanent and total may be required to have their conditions reviewed after a certain number of years. Service connected means the injury or condition was as a result of serving in the military. These designations can qualify a person for additional benefits, although they do not change the amount of disability pay. A person can have a disability rating with both of these designations or neither of them.

Does a military retiree with VA disability have to get medical care at a VA facility? No.

Besides monetary compensation, what additional benefits are available for those with a VA disability rating?

Many benefits – but not all - require the veteran to have a specific minimum VA rating percentage. Any veteran with a 10 percent disability rating, for example, is exempt from paying the funding fee on a VA home loan. That benefit can potentially save thousands of dollars a year in mortgage payments. Those with a total and permanent, service connected disability have an education benefit available to their spouses and children that pays a monthly stipend while the family members are in college, vocational school and some other types of training. Disabled veterans are also eligible for job training and employment counseling. Many states also have their own benefits – such as lower property taxes (or none at all), free or reduced college tuition for family members, no vehicle registration fees … the list varies widely and is completely up to each state. Most states also have specific residency requirements to qualify.

Where do I find out about benefits?

You can google it all day long and find tons of information, but be sure to stick to official sources as there is a lot of misinformation floating around out there. The VA website is a great place to start: https://benefits.va.gov/benefits/. In addition, each state has a Department of Veterans Affairs to handle state-level benefits. But the best resource might be your county’s Veteran Services Offices. They are a one-stop shop for federal, state and local benefits.

How many old ball gowns do you have in your closet? Tired of moving them in each PCS? Tired of hoping you’ll fit back into them after your last pregnancy?

Donate them! There are prom gown collections happening across the nation this spring to make sure high school girls who cannot afford a dress can still have the gown of her dreams.

Nationally, David’s Bridal has teamed up with Becca’s Closet, a non-profit that collects prom dresses for teens in need. You can drop off your dress with a local Becca’s Closet chapter or visit the David’s Bridal website to download and print your free shipping label, pack your dress and mail, for free to the closest Becca’s Closet program.

You can find a list of local Becca’s Closet programs at this website: www.beccascloset.org

Many military installations and spouse groups also collect dresses each spring to donate locally. Check with your local spouse club, MWR office or even the second-hand store on-base.

After a career-worth of military balls, let those designer gowns out of the bag and enjoy another night out on the town. And, help an under privileged girl feel like Cinderella for the night. 

By Amy Nielsen

I had the opportunity to be part of yet another dreaded group project in my Master’s of Nutrition program this past week. It was the culmination of a 15-week class and it was a live, in-class presentation.

Everyone dreads group work. I kind of like it. I’m that sick, twisted one who likes logistics, planning, gathering, and sorting. I adore working with other dedicated, passionate, professionals with drive and creativity. What I don’t do is the tech side. I cannot make a pretty presentation– that’s why I work with a team – I can hand all of my research over to the member who is good at that part.

What I do not put up with in a group project, is someone who decides they hate group projects and their solution is going to be to ignore everything to do with it. And then, get combative when confronted with their lack of involvement.

Group projects are part of school, any school. Suck it up, put on your big girl panties and do it. If the team is good, and ours was, the team will find a way for each member to participate to the best of their abilities and work within their strong suit. This is how you grow a successful team.

My school is a small specialized school hosting both online and on campus portions of our program. The students mostly travel in for weekend-long intensive classes. This class in no different, with five weekends spent on campus and a month between each meeting. Between classes students communicate through our school email or informally on Facebook.

Our project was an hour-long presentation on a topic of great debate. We were teamed up in groups of about eight by the professor.  Within that structure, we decided to break into smaller teams of two to tackle each section of the topic thoroughly as there was a plethora of information to sift through.

It became obvious from our first team meeting where our weakest link was going to fall. Even at that very first meeting she was argumentative and refused to offer suggestion or solutions when asked. Several days later, our first online meeting was no better. She was an hour late to a two hour call, unprepared, and unwilling to catch up.

That was a month ago.

Since then the team created a cohesive, well-planned, organized presentation. We worked hard through serious technical difficulties, having to switch platforms completely half way through. We culled more data than we collected. We could have easily presented for two hours with the amount of material we gathered. Together we cherry picked exactly the right phrasing to support our case with graphics and case studies.

Last week, at our call two days before we were to turn in our supporting documents and slide deck – before we all had to spend the following day traveling to campus from our far flung homes - our weak link decided to rear her head and join the program. Joining the call late, as always, she was downright combative with the rest of us. That was when she was actually intelligible, as most of the time we couldn’t even understand what she was saying, she was that drunk.

After another difficult call the night before our presentation, she decided to go into the presentation online at midnight, after we had turned it in, and change around not only her section - changing wording and even removing graphs and pictures – but also her partner’s section.

Her partner happened to be up, working on another exam, when, thankfully, weak link gal called to have her look at the new material that had been added. The partner messaged the rest of us at one in the morning in tears. So away we went to fix it and resubmit in the wee hours of the morning we were to present, when the deadline for submissions had long passed. We hoped we would still pass as a team as this professor is adamant about deadlines.

During that late night/early morning kerfluffle, we made the decision to stand up as a team and call her out to our professor.

This was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make academically. To call out a teammate on a project the morning of the presentation – to potentially cause her to fail the class – is a huge deal. Here we were, as a team, as a cohort, and as early professionals, doing work in a style we will encounter for the rest of our professional lives and she was going to take credit for work she didn’t do. Worse yet, she was going to take credit for something she actively worked against.

This became about not only her personal integrity, but also my personal and professional integrity. I am moving into a field that is emerging in the health care world. To say I have to have more professional integrity than the entire rest of the field put together is an understatement. I know that we are fighting against big pharma and the entrenched biomedical world. Without my professional integrity, my research means nothing. My professional integrity starts now, in school, with these colleagues.

Moving forward, these fellow students will become fellow practitioners. Do I really want someone with that work ethic and moral compass to be viewed with the same professionalism I am? No way. Her actions diminish my professional integrity. My personal integrity and ethical compass say I need to stand up and call her out.

As it happened, we emailed the professor our concerns. Before calling class to order, he met with our team, minus the offender as she hadn’t yet arrived. Weak link gal was almost an hour late for class, not to even mention we had agreed to come in an hour early to make sure we were good after the night’s debacle, so really two hours late. The professor listened, asked several questions of us to clarify our disagreement, and then told us she wasn’t passing the class already and that this just clinched it for him. He would be bringing this up with her academic advisor and follow the school’s route for discipline.

Personal and professional integrity comes from within, but sometimes one has to stand up to make sure the underlying tenants of that integrity don’t get undercut by a current of easy complicity. It would have been easier, less stressful, and certainly less emotional, if we had just let her slide. But I can’t swallow that she, in her current state, will be a representative of my profession. So, I stood up.

Beware pay periods bearing gifts.

Occasionally, actually more than a lot, the gurus at the Defense Finance and Accounting Services, the guys who pay military members each month, make a mistake.

And those mistakes can land an extra $20 or even $200 in your paycheck.

What’s the best advice I’ve ever heard as a military spouse? Don’t touch this extra money. Ever. Don’t spend it. Don’t assume it’s yours. Don’t assume it is back pay from something your service member did way back when.

Because, if you are wrong, Uncle Sam is going to take it back. They won’t give you a payment plan. They won’t let you choose the date to give it back. They will take it.

And if you’ve accidentally borrowed several hundred, or several thousand dollars from DFAS, that repayment is going to hurt.

In 2009 members of Congress introduced a bill that would limit the repayments of accidental overpayment.

H.R. 2771 read: “To amend titles 10 and 37, United States Code, to provide a more equitable process by which the military departments may recover overpayments of military pay and allowances erroneously paid to a member of the Armed Forces when the overpayment is due to no fault of the member, to expand Department discretion regarding remission or cancellation of indebtedness, and for other purposes.”

Language in the bill limited repayment to 10 percent of a military member’s pay, allowed for the debt to be erased if the military member was now a veteran who was living off of disability payments and put in place a 5-year limitation on collections.

The bill died in committee and never made it to a full vote of Congress.

Which means, if the military overpaid you by no fault of your own, and you didn’t notice or thought that you were due the money, they eventually will come for you.

Case in point, a friend of mine’s husband retired in 2012. They are now living off his VA disability check since his injuries in Iraq left him with a 90 percent VA rating.  In January of this year they received notice that in 2004 the military had overpaid them a monthly allotment. That allotment, over time and which they didn’t realize they were not due, amounted to over $6,000.

And, the military was writing to let them know they’d be taking their money back. Now.

They were on notice that his monthly VA check would be withheld, in full, until the debt was repaid.

It was 14 years later, a debt that took two years to amass, which they didn’t even realize they had, the DOD wanted paid in full, immediately.

My friends are scrambling to get the DOD to agree to a payment plan and find a way to buy groceries and pay rent during the next year when the DOD takes every cent they live off of.

We can talk at length about how despicable this treatment is. How the DOD should be better at fixing their mistakes and more lenient when correcting mistakes they make.

But frankly, that conversation ended when the bill to protect military members against DOD errors died in Congress. No one is interested in making sure service members do not lose their homes or go hungry because of a DOD accounting mistake.

So the best thing you can do as a military family to protect against this? Be vigilant. Check your service members’ pay every single pay period. If there is extra money, find out way. Be persistent.

Take notes when you speak to DFAS. Keep email trails. Be prepared to prove what you were told.  

If there is extra pay you can’t account for, sock it away. Make sure it is ready and waiting when Uncle Sam breaks down your door to take it. Because, he absolutely will.

Will you have financial security if your retired spouse dies before you?

Nobody likes to talk about the worst-case scenario. But when it comes to retirement, it is a conversation that every couple should definitely have.

Most of us are familiar with life insurance. There are several different types, but in general a life insurance policy pays a lump sum amount upon the insured person’s death.

Every active duty military member is automatically enrolled in Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, commonly known as SGLI. But that insurance disappears when you leave the military. The “replacement” insurance – Veterans’ Group Life Insurance or VGLI – is a similar program.

It’s important to note that VGLI has no requirement for proof of good health or health screenings if you enroll within 240 days of separating from the military. Why is this important? Because many civilian life insurance providers will deny coverage to veterans with a high disability rating or certain health conditions.

The Survivor Benefit Plan is also another option offered to retirees. SBP pays the beneficiary up to 55 percent of the retiree’s pay – for life. Without it, a spouse or children of a retiree would receive nothing in terms of pay. Note: It’s a common misconception that retirement pay continues automatically to the surviving spouse upon the retiree’s death. Not true. Retirement pay stops immediately when the retiree dies.

A few things to note about SPB: A spouse must be present at signing if the retiring servicemember declines coverage, and there is only one very limited window to cancel once you sign up.

Whether to buy life insurance or increase your existing coverage, or take SBP, or some combination of the two, are hefty decisions.

We compiled a short list of (very) frequently asked questions to help you get started with this difficult conversation and wade through the options. We also enlisted Kate Horrell, a financial educator, coach and counselor who focuses on military families, to lend her expertise.

What is the difference between SBP and life insurance?

The answer to this one is pretty simple, although the two are very different products. SBP pays a monthly income to the beneficiary for life. Life insurance is a one-time lump-sum payment.

“If you want that lump sum to provide a stream of income, you will have to invest and/or manage it (or find someone trustworthy to do it for you),” Horrell said. “SBP pays a stream of income.”

Some people balk at the cost of SBP, which can be several hundreds of dollars a month for high-ranking retirees who choose the full 55 percent coverage. But Horrell believes SBP is “super cheap for what you are getting,” specifically because SBP includes annual cost of living allowances and the income continues for the life of the beneficiary.

What are some important factors to consider when purchasing life insurance?

Horrell advises that shoppers consider the stability of the company from which you purchase life insurance and the details of the policy (does it have a war clause, a suicide clause or other limitations that might be a factor in your situation. Also, she says, ask yourself how much coverage you really need.

Do I need life insurance?

The answer to this depends a lot on your personal situation, specifically if you have children or whether your spouse could support his/herself without it. It also depends on your own financial assets.

“There are lots of situations where someone may not need life insurance,” Horrell said. “If no one is depending on your income, you don't need life insurance. If your dependents have other sources of benefits or enough revenue to cover their expenses, you don't need life insurance.”

What are some of the most important factors to think about when considering SBP?

The same criteria from the above question – personal financial situation and family situation – also apply here. Also take into consideration the age of your children, if anyone in your family has special needs, and how much (if any) life insurance you have. Also consider what other streams of income surviving family members might have, and analyze how much more money (if any) would be needed on a regular basis.

Horrell says you should ask yourself these questions: “What does your family actually need, and how will their needs change over time? If you don't need the full amount of SBP for a lifetime, would an insurance policy ‘fill the gap’ appropriately and at a lower cost?”

Which should I choose – SBP or life insurance?

“In general, my advice for SBP vs. life insurance is that they are not an either/or question,” Horrell said. “They are very different products that provide very different benefits. A couple should analyze their needs and their thought patterns.”

Some people might feel most comfortable with a combination of the two. For example, Horrell said, a family might decide through their own needs analysis (or with the help of a financial advisor) to purchase a term life insurance policy in an amount that would cover a mortgage and college costs. The retiring servicemember might then decide to purchase SBP in an amount that would cover the rest of the monthly expenses, minus any other income sources.

“In my opinion, SBP is a better tool for a stream of income and life insurance is a better tool for fixed costs like mortgages and college costs,” Horrell said.

“In most cases, a combination of the two is a much better choice than one vs. the other.  SBP to provide long-term income, life insurance for shorter-term needs.

She advises those looking at their options to consider the “sleep-at-night factor.”

“What will help your survivors sleep at night? This is an emotional decision as well as a financial one.”

This week I took a few minutes to check out the local job boards. The industry I am in is evolving and positions are opening up in unlikely places. My career path is one that can be massaged into several different industries under different titles. I live in a relative hot bed of activity for upscale, edgy, integrative idealism so one never knows what folks are willing to try out.

Two positions are open and both would be a nice addition to my resume while I work my way through my master’s program. I am consolidating a career from several different avenues and both would be a good fit to my progress. Both are as local as they can be in a rural community, with longstanding organizations doing work similar to what I want to eventually do.

Now, it’s time to hone the most important document in the job search, the cover letter. It is especially important in my case since my resume reads like a disjointed hopscotch down the eastern seaboard with no theme or reason.

I have begun to see the themes in my sling-shot, pin-ball career path that took me from lighting design to chef, veterinary assistant to volunteer and now herbalist and nutritionist. What did I learn and take forward into each iteration of myself? What strengths did I discover and what weaknesses were uncovered? Is there anything I have done that I really am not good at?

My first career was lighting designer, which I did professionally for almost 15 years. I learned the importance of leaning on the strengths of each member of a design team. I had the necessity of brevity and organization hammered into me on national tours. I learned that all the bad coffee in the world really can power a 28-foot truck through the Wisconsin winter snow to ensure a fulfilled contract and promised pay day. I learned that Unions don’t always suck.

My leap to the culinary world might seem jarring, but in a cover letter I have an opportunity to explain how it happened. I also have the chance to emphasize the continuity of team work and interdependence on strengths of each team member. A kitchen is nothing more than theater with live fire, sharp blades, and a menu for a script. My time there fostered in me a deep compassion for my staff and developed a sense of the necessity of hierarchy, a difference after the years working toward team equality.

The hardest chunk of time for me to explain are the years spent following my sailor husband on his journey in the Navy. I find it hard to maintain a focus on what I was doing on a professional and volunteer basis, and what I was learning informally. Those years are fundamental to where I am now, but elusive to summarize neatly.

I spent the first part of those years working for an animal shelter as a vet assistant. It might seem like a fill-the-time-as-a-dependent kind of position. As I learned, it is one that takes a whole different strength and compassion that I would never have developed without having been given the chance.

The world of shelter veterinary medicine is not one for the faint of heart, by any stretch of the imagination. Animal shelters are some of the hardest places I have ever been to. My soul was ripped open and shattered so many times, then gently and softly rebuilt with the tiniest of nudges from a furry friend or by the tears of a co-worker at the end of the day. Yet the lines in my resume read like I spent three years trimming nails and shooting vaccines.

How does one fully communicate the magnitude of being the New Mother’s Liaison for the Ombudsman staff for an aircraft carrier during an extended deployment to a potential civilian employer? Among our 5,000 sailors there are 157 new babies born or adopted in nine months including three sets of twins, two preemies, three lost pregnancies, two surprise pregnancies, six adoptions, one pregnant, deployed sailor who didn’t know she was pregnant until five months into the deployment, and my own first daughter?

Did I mention several of the mamas chose to weather the deployment at home – far from all military connections? It was like being the doula for a herd of flying monkeys with a wicked Starbucks/Target habit.

It is hard to parse the dramatic change my life took upon the birth of my second daughter with her rare genetic condition. Her entrance into the world opened doors into a universe I had no idea existed. It changed the wind in my sails and set a completely new course for me. But how to put that professionally?

Those early motherhood years are a struggle for any mama returning to the professional world. There is no accepted convention for, “I took ten years to raise these awesome amazing creatures and I experienced more in those years than I could ever have anywhere else” on a resume. Because let’s face it, the experience of raising children changes a person’s perspective about a whole lotta things from bodily habits to interpersonal sandbox interactions. Moving back into the workforce should have allowances for that growth and conventions for dealing with it at this point.

Ideas that were merely theoretical like access versus inclusion and the insanity that is intensive insurance involvement in care were daily battles. Inter-diagnosis special needs mommy wars became a reality. The cause of a spontaneous genetic mutation drove me to hound doctors to print all the latest research on tangents they hadn’t connected to because I was a mama on a mission. How my very language changed as I learned not only the proper medical jargon but also more compassionate advocacy.

Growing children demand education and with all of the other pieces of our lives, homeschool fit best. So I stepped up to be a founding member of a homeschool cooperative. The experience of creating educational programs with like-minded but equally strong-willed parents to benefit the greater good of our developing children has been one of dramatic successes and abysmal failures.  It rekindled my love of teaching and reminded me that I really appreciate a well-rounded team to explode open small ideas, yet having a proper board meeting with minutes is important to the process too.

This time lead directly to my formal studies in herbal and nutritional medicine, my current path and master’s studies. The underpinnings of my work with teams developing cohesive well thought out complete programs - now using the tools of nutrition, traditional herbal medicine, a deep understanding of physiology, are the focus of my future career in integrative team based medicine. My fear about these letters are that I will overstate myself and end up being overqualified, when I really just want the chance to learn more.

Need a holiday job but the idea of dealing with the holiday shopping crowd makes you cringe?

Try applying at a movie theater instead.

The holiday season is one of the hottest seasons for blockbusters to hit theaters, which means crowds will increase and theaters will be hiring extra help.

Visit any online job search engine and you will find plentiful movie theater jobs in every state across the nation. Positions are available in ticket sales, concessions, cleaning crew and security.

Most national theater companies, such as Cinemark, list employee expectations and benefits on their individual websites. Many include perks such as free movies, discounts on concessions and advancement opportunities. Managers and assistant managers are often eligible for health and dental plans, paid time off and other benefit packages.

The downside? Movies run all day, and late into the night. Though many of the companies’ websites indicate flexible scheduling, during the holidays, hours may not be as negotiable.

And, theaters are open on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years’ Eve and New Years’ Day. As the newest employee on the roster you may not have your first choice of days off.

Still, while basic theater crew members generally make minimum wage, a quick review of many job openings shows that managers make upwards of $55,000 a year. A season of buckling down and working the extra hours could land you a permanent position, with better hours and better pay. 

By Amy Nielsen

I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Temple Grandin speak this past week at a very small theater in our rural community. Hearing her speak has been on my bucket list since I first read one of her books in the mid-nineties in college. Reading her words was the first time I understood that people are allowed to think differently. I grew up thinking differently.

As a young girl I knew I couldn’t read the way other people did. I was an avid reader, but I rarely remembered the plot of the story. I could, however, tell you everything in the book after I reread the first paragraph. I am terrible at computational math – I still cannot add a simple string of numbers, but I adore doing conceptual math – geometric proofs and calculus functions were my favorites. Every bubble test I took, I scored off the charts in reading comprehension but well below average on math and spelling.

In college I was finally diagnosed with dyslexia. In subsequent years I have come to learn that I am not only dyslexic, but also dysgraphic and have trouble with dyscalculia. My high school math teacher regularly threw me out of class for arguing with him about a particular problem, once famously for asking why roots and squares were the same. It mattered to me. I needed to understand the theoretical principles, he needed me to get the answer four.

Once I learned that I was dyslexic, a whole lot of things suddenly made sense. Some things made perfect sense. Well, of course I can’t spell, sometimes it’s so bad even the great Google can’t figure it out. I trip up autocorrect pretty much every day with interesting consequences. Some were a bit more subtle, math is really hard when the numbers keep switching places.

Then there were those that made no sense to anyone but those who work with folks with different minds, like I can take a two dimensional line drawing, pick it up in my head and rotate it three hundred and sixty degrees and know how it all goes together. I can’t, however, answer an incorrect question on a written test correctly the second time without changing how I input the information. My brain will always choose the answer I have already selected once.

What on Earth does this have to do with either higher education or career? I would argue absolutely everything. If you are aware of how you best receive information, it make it much easier to set yourself up for successfully completing tasks.

Ask a visual/pictorial learner to read a book on a subject and they will remember some of it. Ask that same person to watch a movie about it and they will remember much more of it. If you don’t understand something the first time, it might be that you need it in a different format. Easy to fix once you know which one suits you best.

Personally, as I am in school again after some decades away, I am learning much about how I learn and how best I provide information. I have two classes this term that couldn’t be a better example of how one fits my learning style and one absolutely does not.

My physiology class is a learning challenged student’s dream. My professor provides clear, concise well filmed video lectures. Those lectures incorporate a well laid out power point slide show. The web based resources are of various styles and placed in appropriate chapters within our module based system. The text book reading is more in depth but not so over my head that I get lost without extra explanation. The professor uses the - tell ‘em, show ‘em, make ‘em do it, test ‘em on it - strategy of teaching. He makes sure everything is covered in each of the three principle learning styles, reading, visual/pictorial, and auditory/heard.

My chemistry class is nothing more than molecules by firing squad. This professor prefers to have each piece of information hidden deep within three different locations, book, video, lecture – all the while regaling us with fantastical tidbits we will ostensibly need in later courses, but will not be used farther in this course, nor will they be on any quiz. Of course he tells us this after spending thirty minutes on a tangent that I have been furiously scribbling to comprehend. His most charming habit is to call a process by three different names in the materials then use a forth on the test.

Because I know how I learn best now, I know that I can spend less time in physiology as I know that the same information will be well covered in my preferred learning style. I can be less panicked that I will miss a crucial detail in those formats that I have a harder time with. Chemistry is another ball of wax all together and I find myself spending at minimum twice as long to make sure I have all of the steps in each process understood.

I wish it were routine for adults to have state of the art learning disability testing at least once in their mid-thirties to mid-forties. Heck, I think it should be part of school testing at least once in the elementary grades and once in high school to determine ones basic learning style and if there are any glaring difficulties. Most people if they are ever tested are only ever tested in childhood. With the advances in understanding in how people learn over the decades, it makes sense to get retested again in later years as your career is jumping off to make sure you have every tool in your box for the ultra-competitive job market. Take the time to learn how you learn. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can only help you be more successful.