I said "No"

Just to let everyone know, I did get with the payroll and benefits person this morning by phone. No tuition assistance for me. Possibly some sort of deal for Keith (or Hannah) being able to attend here for free, but with Keith only needing a couple of credit hours to complete his B.S., I think he will almost HAVE to do those credits at Southeastern. The health insurance was going to be close to $100 more per month than Keith's. Hannah's afterschool care was going to run close to $100 a week. If I opted out of all of the benefits, just the afterschool costs for her would mean about $55 a week in my pocket for me working full time (40 hours and as needed above and beyond) vs. working on my current hourly wage. When I look at it that way, $55 just doesn't seem to be an even trade. I don't know who they will hire as the new director and a lot of the specifics of the job are going to be left up to that person, so there are just too many fill in the blanks left for me to wait on and make a decision based on that.

So, all that being said, as my title infers, I said "no" this morning. We had a good talk. The big picture is that I can't risk being away from my family 2 nights a week for school and then having additional responsibilities that could keep me out of the house another couple of nights. I also need time to do all of my homework, my residency to get my actual license to practice mental health counseling has to happen pretty soon and will require a lot of time... If the salary was going to make a difference in my life, I could consider it. But with just such a small amount to offer in trade for my time at this point, it's not worth it. Once I have my MA, I won't have the homework, the internship hours, or the 6 added hours of driving + 6 hours of class time to contend with. Completion is one year away. I am going to try to hang out here for the duration. If I became desperate for work, I would probably have a better time of it walking away and going to a different place where at least the health insurance would make it worth while.

That's a lot of jibber jabber for me to just lay it out there, but those were some of the things I had to consider. I have greater ambition than what I'm doing right now, but I believe I made the right decision.