Now this is where the drama of Ulcerative Colitis has really taken my life on a little bit of a U-Turn and if I am honest this is probably going to be a slightly incomplete post because as yet, I do not have a plan…
On Monday 11th May 2020 I was meant to join Norfolk Constabulary as a Police Officer. Clearly, this did not happen.
Previous to this, I was working at a local High School in behaviour management and had been there for 18 months, was solidly employed and all in all quite liked the work that I was doing. I only really moved for the career opportunities that being in the police gave me.
I became ill in the last week of my notice period for working at the school.
So this now leaves me in the wonderful position of being unemployed because I left the last job and can’t start the new one as I am sick.
I have deferred my entry into the Police until July at this point however as I left the hospital I was told that I now need to go into “shielding” and so I am not sure how that is going to work.
DRAMA!
I am incredibly lucky to have super supportive parents who are going to help me out for a little bit but anyone that knows me knows that I am not the sort of person to rely on that long term, however life has been made rather more complicated.
Now as I understand it I am not going to have to give up my dream of being in the police. I believe that as long as I have the condition under control it is not a barrier to entry however due to the current pandemic that is sweeping the country, I am unlikely to be able to start in July as I am going to have to shield and so wont be allowed near other people. So this means that this option is probably not going to happen in the short term and I need another plan.
I have the option of getting another job for a while and working at that until I am able to join the police and so I have filled in a couple of applications for roles in schools that I am interested in. Unfortunately neither are as high a salary as I did have however a salary is a salary. This is an option and hopefully I would be able to start in September as well which might let me get through the shielding business as well. This is an option.
Another option is working a part time job that I already have but for more hours a week. I help to run activity and sports camps at a local leisure centre and for the duration of the pandemic I have been helping them to run sportscamps for NHS worker children. When all of this started and I had to delay my entry because of “gastroenteritis” I contacted them and enquired about further hours and they happily gave me almost full time hours. Due to shielding I am no longer going to be able to do that but perhaps there is some hope that when shielding is over I might be able to pick up some relatively full time hours in this way. It all helps.
A third option which my Dad suggested briefly but in my brain has been gaining more and more momentum is for me to return to studying and to go and get my Masters. Now, I am not the most academic person in the world, but I do like to surprise everyone by informing them that I have a BAHons International Development with Overseas Experience. So I had a bit of a look into Masters degrees at UEA and have found two that are drool-worthy to me. MA International Security looking at conflict, terrorism and international security issues is currently winning in my heart. I am a complete geek for looking at conflict having written my undergraduate dissertation on the use of sport in development with a focus on how it can be used for reconciliation and rebuilding in post conflict areas. Now this would obviously be a little bit of a diversion from what I am currently doing but might act as a lovely little year long project to keep my mind busy and my personal development moving forward while affording me the opportunity to learn about my new diagnosis and get the treatment right before starting my career with the police.
As you can probably tell, nothing has been decided and these are all kind of ideas that are circulating around my head. It certainly was not how I had planned for this section of my life to go however life throws curveballs and you’ve got to roll with it. As my friend said to me “get lemons and make lemonade”. We shall have to see and I will certainly keep you informed. I am now entering a new mode also as I look for employment while declaring that I have a long term health condition.
Wish me luck…