MIchelle has lived most of her life within South Louisiana, with some outside experiences North Louisiana and five years in Dallas-Fort Worth. All content written on this page, is her original writing, unless otherwise stated and/or documented.
Abbreviated Elements of Education, Work History, and Personal Experience:
Her high school diploma, completed in 1997. She graduated with a 3.48 average.
Bachelor’s degree in General Studies with a minor in Addictive Behaviors, completed in August 2005. She graduated with a 3.6 average.
MIchelle’s original plan was to finish in 2002 with a full degree in Family and Consumer Sciences, Child-Family Social Service track, and go on with her Masters in Social Work or Christian Counseling. A class called “Methods” happened in her final semester of coursework before internship in that program. Not a single “honor society” nomination, “stress-management” technique she reviewed in the “resource” material before her, suggestion or advice from others could “solve” the challenges she would face. Ultimately, Michelle made the humble decision, to walk away from “The Beast” for now, and move on with life, by completing her degree through the General Studies criteria of her university, completing her degree right before the most damaging Hurricane to ever impact New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast since the infamous “Betsy,” her grandparents often remembered.
MIchelle’s graduate school plans would be delayed, as she worked as in an administrative role for a hospital system impacted greatly by this Katrina event.
Eventually, after a few of life’s continued ups, downs, and tragedies of sort, Michelle would consider a few options in continuing her education.
Her first attempt, return to her original University for second Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Information Systems. This attempt lasted approximately one semester, she was performing well enough, and offered a partial scholarship by the department, but other events and the reality of the costs, her full-time job, and, yes, life..led to an end to this path.
Next her counselor had advised her to consider healthcare-management. This, likewise, ended in one semester, one class, or less. Was it the long commute while working full-time? Or, the fact, I questioned earning a healthcare management degree and some hospital administrative experience alone was enough to qualify me to lead healthcare professional? Maybe a combo….
Finally, one day, MIchelle realized in order to really move forward, she would have to completely leave her full-time roll, find a graduate program, she could enroll in completely, and have enough financial aid left-over to pay for living-costs, and possibly find a part-time job at some later date or just survive on that until a professional role was found post-graduation.
Miraculously, that worked! She found out about a Rehabilitation Counseling program that had an option of RSA grant funding. More information you can find out about that here: https://rsa.ed.gov/about/programs/rehabilitation-training-long-term
What excited her most about this program was the advocacy for people with disabilities. Within her own challenges that led up to graduate school was a wealth of compassion, understanding, and a desire to help others navigate their own challenges or even learn a thing of two about how others learned to navigate life within their in-born or later ‘”changed” abilities.
This degree program taught Michelle a great deal about the Disability Rights movement for people with disabilities. Her is an article about that: https://www.nps.gov/articles/disabilityhistoryrightsmovement One could probably use google, and find out a bit more.
Often times within her graduate education, she was beginning to understand more pieces of her own journey. This “excitement” led to personal disclosures that her classmates, professors, or even therapist at the time, was alarmed by. And for some reasons not mentioned here, her own therapist, ultimately, “dumped her”.
Her master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling was completed in 2013. She graduated with a 3.8 average. She would go on to work as a state vocational rehabilitation counselor for 2 1/2 years.
Her life, the continued ups and downs, and challenges within the career is ultimately the reason this blog was created.
Current Endeavors:
MIchelle is not, currently, licensed in any professional field, nor practicing any form of counseling. She also does not currently possesses a provisional or intern counseling license. Her provisional license has lapsed without renewal. At this time, she does not plan on reactivating it.
Therefore, she does not offer counseling, coaching, or any other type of mental health or rehabilitation service, nor consulting. She may be open to some case management, peer support, or other advocacy-type position for individuals with disabilities or disaster victims in the future.
She has held multiple positions post-graduate school and her vocational rehabilitation counseling position.
Her last position was a disaster case manager for Hurricane Ida, a Hurricane in which she experienced her own loss of home and displacement.
Michelle is currently considering her options, writing, assisting her husband with his business, caring for herself, attending to other household needs.
When she is not busy on a writing tangent or taking care one of the previously mentioned roles, she enjoys meme hunting and exchanging messages with her select band of “deviant friends” and “beacons of hope” across the country.
Sometimes, she slows down enough mentally to watch or even binge watch something interesting, but most of the time, after “the work” is done, she will take a nap, play around with small set of art supplies she possesses, love on her dog, Carly with her husband, and text random thoughts to family and friends, as they come to her.
Welcome to her blog!