MY FIRST JOB

Who needs a job?  I didn't have to work during high school...that is to say that my mom paid for EVERYTHING.  I was definitely a welfare case and never considered getting a job - how selfish am I?  I was involved in extra curricular activities & there really wasn't time for a job in my life, but my mom allowed me to participate...in fact, my mom did A LOT for me growing up.  I never had "chores" nor did I have to help with dinner, etc.  Did I mention I was a selfish brat?  As I got older & realized how much work children are, I asked my mom why I was never given any responsibilities or jobs to do to help out?  She told me that she always wanted me to be a child and have fun.  She was the oldest girl in her family, the second of six kids.  She had to help her mom out - since she was old enough to walk she was out picking cotton on the farm.  She tended her younger brothers & sisters, too.  She also got married really young and I always wondered if she felt like she didn't get to "play" much when she was growing up & wanted to make sure that we did.  Not sure how much truth there is to that, but I am grateful to my mom for letting me play...however, learning responsibility was a challenge for me because working just wasn't any fun!  Basically, I didn't learn how to work.

Professional Cheerleader - Even my first job was fun.  Right out of high school I was recruited to teach summer cheerleading camps for National Cheerleaders Association.  Although the pay wasn't all that great, I got to travel quite a bit & we were treated like celebrities by all the high school cheerleaders that attended camps.  However, that first summer, I didn't get assigned to very many camps so my mom told me I needed to get a job until I left for camps!  What?  She said that she couldn't just keep handing money to me, I needed to work for it.  I was given the option of looking for a job or she could use my help in her drapery shop.  The thought of job hunting terrified me, so since I have already helped mom when she needed extra help in her shop & I knew what to do, I agreed to "work" with her...besides, my best friend Carol worked for her & it would be "fun."  Yeah, it wasn't fun, it was boring!  But we laughed a lot & I learned to appreciate how hard my mother worked for us ALL of her life!

This is actually Marti, taken the summer before I got married.

Squaw Valley NCA Cheer Staff

Blue Light Special - When school started in the fall (Bakersfield Junior College), I did not want to go back to work at the drapery shop, so I went job hunting.  I applied at Kmart & Payless Drug Store.  I remember my interview at Payless - I was so frightened & my stomach was all tied in knots.  I felt like I was begging for money.  Payless wasn't hiring, but Kmart was & I got the job!  I HATED it!  My job was to keep the racks of clothes neat & folded or hung up in the right place.  Kmart shoppers are tacky!  They rummage through the racks & drop things on the floor & tear the displays up...it had to be worse than having messy kids to clean up after!  People are gross.  I would straighten up one rack & move to the next one & by the time I finished the next one, I had to go back and re-do the first one.  It certainly changed the way I shopped & to this day I cannot walk by a shirt or dress in a store that is half way hanging on a hanger.  I have to stop & straighten it up because it really bugs me!

Payless Pharmacy - I was only at Kmart for about a month & Payless called me.  A job had opened up & I took it.  I gave my notice at Kmart & started right away.  For about a week, I worked at both places.  I REALLY liked working at Payless.  I worked the cash register.  I liked checking people out & the polite conversion & interaction with the customers.  When I wasn't on a register, we would be on the floor stocking or "facing" the shelves.  Facing is where you make sure all the products are facing forward so their labels can be easily read & all the items are placed in their proper place on the shelves.  I worked here until the summer came, then I would head off to cheerleading camps.  I worked at Payless off & on when I came home, between semesters, etc.  I was promoted to the pharmacy & I really liked that.  The pharmacists were so nice & you could actually develop a relationship with the regular customers - there were so many sweet old people who came to pick up their meds each week.  Loved that job!

Gymnastics - Other jobs...when I attended BYU the first year, I didn't have a car to get around or job hunt.  I tried to get a job on campus, but so did every other BYU student.   I did make the gymnastics team & my coach, Lu Wallace, was the National Women's Gymnastic Judging Chairman.  Did I say, "national?"  Yeah, that meant that she was in charge of training/testing judges all over the nation.  She insisted that we all take the judging test so that we would know what the judges would be looking for when they judged us.  Well, I passed the test at a relatively high level & all of a sudden I was getting calls to judge gymnastic meets all over Utah & Wyoming with Sister Wallace...& they paid pretty good for an all day meet.  At that time, many of the schools in Utah had gymnastics teams so I was judging high school meets on weekdays, too.  This led to an exciting career in gymnastics coaching & judging.  Because I knew what the judges were looking for, I was effective in helping gymnasts perfect their skills & routines so they wouldn't be giving points away unnecessarily. My dance background also contributed to my ability to eventually do choreography for many gymnasts throughout the various states.  I've choreographed many state, regional, & national championship routines - the ultimate creative satisfaction is to see one of your routines performed by talented, championship gymnasts.  I met one of my lifelong BFFs (Donna Mills Meyer Alexin) when I moved to Memphis in 1978 which began a long & successful collaboration & working relationship with Memphis Centre of Gymnastics, aka The Gymstars.  I wore many hats at The Gym - from cleaning toilets, teaching classes, running the office, managing teams, designing uniforms & brochures, choreographing & teaching routines, & coaching/judging Elite Level gymnasts.

Department Store - As a newlywed, I decided I would get a real job & coach/judge gymnastics on the side so I got a job at Goldsmith's department Store in Memphis where I worked as an "extra" which simply means, I worked where I was needed in the various departments throughout the store.  I spent most of the holidays in the men's accessories section helping customers find a matching tie or the perfect cologne.  But when I started "showing" they moved me to other departments, because men are uncomfortable around pregnant women.  I worked in linens - this is where I learned how to fold towels "properly" (Paul will testify that I am OCD about my towels & linen closet in general.).  This is also where I learned how to fold a fitted sheet.  People would come in & actually open packages of sheet sets & just leave them to be magically repackaged?  Customers are rude!  I had to learn how to repackage sheet sets so they didn't look previously opened...people don't want to purchase opened packages.  I also spent some time in gift wrapping, I can wrap a great package!

My hours weren't consistent & I actually made more money coaching than at Goldsmith's but I worked there until after Ben was born.  I found it extremely difficult to work at the department store with a nursing baby at home, so I quit & went back to coaching full time.  I could take the baby with me to the gym & there were tons of parents there willing to help with a baby.  So the Carter Critters grew up in the gym, it was their playground.

Time For Change - Unfortunately, gymnastics is not a family friendly career.  Even though the kids came with me most of the time & were able to take classes here & there, I would need to be working when my family needed help with homework, dinner, bathed, & in bed.  The teams worked out in the evening & so I would be going to work when the kids were just coming home from school.  I realized that I needed to go back to school & get my teaching degree (as originally planned) so that we would all be on the same schedule.  This is very difficult to do when you have a family & you need the income!  Then the gymnastics meets required travel on weekends...I spent a lot of my time feeling torn & guilty that I wasn't home with my family.  I had gone back to school by the time Jeff was really sick & eventually passed away. 

Single Working Mom - My education was interrupted again as I wanted to "go home" to California.  Once we got settled there, I enrolled in school to continue working towards my teaching degree.  I also worked at Dancer's Workshop teaching tumbling AND at the Wells Fargo Bank as a teller.  I really liked my bank job, I liked the regular customers & we stayed really busy so the time went by fast.  I was exhausted all the time trying to juggle family, full time school, & part time jobs.  Part time work wasn't enough money, so I had to drop out of school to take a contract job teaching PE/Dance at Greenfield Junior High School on an emergency/temporary credential.  I continued to struggle with balancing family & work.  It was the most challenging time in my life.

Teaching Degree - After I re-married, I worked part time at the State Farm office, but I really wanted to finish what I had started - I really wanted to graduate from college & get my degree.  Paul supported me in this goal & took on extra duties around the house so I could attend classes & get my homework done.  I finally graduated from San Jose State University with a BA in Liberal Studies in 1996, I was 41 years old.  

Yes, I did it, but I did it the hard way.  If I would have been more patient & serious about school, I would have finished my education before I began my family. I might not have had to struggle so much & I would have been better prepared to take care of my family as a young widow.   I eventually got my teaching degree & taught public school for about ten years.  Teaching was by far, my favorite job & it was a perfect schedule for a working mom.

I really felt like I was helping children develop a love for learning.  It was very rewarding to watch them grow & I enjoyed encouraging them along the way.  I wanted to help others understand the value of education & instill in them then desire to become life-long learners.  I felt like I was contributing to society & I learned that I'm a pretty good teacher! 

I started teaching as soon as I graduated when California implemented the 20:1 Program, 20 students per classroom.  There was a need for teachers everywhere so John Shannon (who I knew from working with the cheerleaders at Gunderson) was the new principal at Carson Elementary School (where our kids went to school) knew I was in the credential program at San Jose State & convinced me to apply for an emergency credential so I could teach for him while I was simultaneously working on my credential...great on-the-job training, but it took me twice as long to get my teaching degree this way.  I sub for a semester (which I hated) & got my own 3rd Grade classroom in February 1997. 

I LOVED working at Carson, but because I was on a temporary credential, they let all the temps go (fired us) to be re-hired in the Fall.  I was called in for interviews at several schools, including Carson, but Mr Shannon couldn't officially offer me a position until August.  Meanwhile, Graystone called and offered me a 5th Grade teaching position & Mr Shannon encouraged me to take it.  He said that as much as he hated to lose me as a teacher, he told me that Graystone was a great school with a great staff & I would really benefit personally from working there (his wife taught there, too).  

Well, he was right!  The school was terrific & I learned from some excellent educators, friends, & mentors!  I LOVED Graystone even more!  I taught 5th grade for three years, a 3rd-4th combination class, 3rd grade another year, then I shared a contract with Lisa Krail teaching a 1st grade class, then I had my own 1st grade class for two more years. I took a "leave of absence" from San Jose Unified School District in 2005 & officially "resigned" in 2006.  As much as I loved teaching, I did not miss it one bit!  We were so busy building the Riverhouse, traveling, keeping up with grandkids, I didn't have time to  miss teaching!

My last class at our Farm Field Trip 2005

Celebrating my 50th birthday with my favorite 1st graders ever!