My Supports

I have many different factors in my life that support me in my daily environment including my husband, family members, and co-workers. My husband supports me by always encouraging me and being a shoulder to lean on, my family is a support by always being a positive influence and providing me with guidance, and my co-workers are a support to me by working collaboratively with one another. There are many benefits of having these supports in my life. The benefit from my husband’s support is the encouragement he gives me which keeps me going in this Master’s program. I work full time and am a single parent when he is overseas so his encouragement helps a lot. My family’s support is the help I receive when my husband is gone. They help with childcare when I do this Master’s work. The benefit from my colleagues is the collaboration we have that makes the job more manageable. If I did not have these supports in my life I would not be able to do everything I do: parent, work, and pursue a Master’s degree.

A challenge I chose to imagine is a scenario that could be real in my life. This scenario is my husband getting a job in another state and us having to move out of Michigan. This would be a challenge for me because my husband works overseas and I am a single parent when he is away. My parents help support me and are a big part of my life especially when my husband is gone. If this did happen in my life I would need new supports such as a close friend maybe going through the same thing as myself.  We could share the support system. The benefit of having this support would be that I could still balance parenting, work, and school. If this support was not there I could not balance it all by myself. I would have to give up work or school because obviously giving up parenting is not a choice.  Another impact is that I would be lonely without family around. I feel very blessed with the supports I currently have in my life. I never take them for granted!