By Amy Neilsen

I recently interviewed with an organization I respect, and does what I want to do with the population of people I want to help.

I have personal experience receiving benefits and services from this organization when we first retired from the Navy. At that point, we had two young children, a full-time student dad, and I was a full-time stay-at-home mom. This organization works with families receiving federal and state benefits to have better access to additional resources offered by other local organizations. They are not only a source for monetary benefits but also a clearing house for health and wellbeing resources.

It was my first interview in more than ten years. The interview went well. There are three candidates and they have two slots to fill.

I also learned that this office hires interns from the master’s program I eventually want to attend  and that they have a student starting next week. Note to self: See if I can meet the student and find out how they like the program.

I learned that interviewing at age 45 is very different, and very similar, to interviewing at 25. On the drive home I was still kicking myself for talking too much about what I can get out of this partnership, and not enough about what they are looking for and how I can fill that for them.

What I also discovered was the ability to step back from berating myself to say, look at what information I did get out of this meeting and how I can use it to further my path.

Regardless of whether I get this job, I met two really interesting women who are good resources for me to know. One of the women has such a glowing passion for the women she employs and the women she assists in their most vulnerable times it veritably seeps through her pores. Seeing her passion was almost overwhelming. Her spark is tangible. I want to have her focus.

I also met a woman who started her career path at exactly the same place and age in life that I am today. We are both starting later in life, with more life experience, and more than a little fear of 'can I get this done with enough time to still make an impact on the lives of those I want to touch'. She is doing what I want to eventually do, more or less. At more or less my age.

That was a huge nugget from today. That this, this school, this career number four or five, this new me; nay I say this culmination of my paths into one, is possible. And, look there is a living breathing example of someone who has done it!

These are all more stepping stones in the path I am making for myself. The more information I can gather, the more paths I can find to follow, the more options I make for myself to find exactly how to disseminate the information I want to get out.