I thought I would write about how my life has changed since Obama has been President of the United States. I hadn't really thought about this until I found myself rationalizing why I work at this lousy Sorenson CaptionCall job after six years. So, here it is:
I began working at SLCC during the latter half of 2008 (August). It provided, along with tuition payments from my studio piano students, almost enough income (at least during the fall and spring semesters), but I had to make just a little extra money to make ends meet, so I applied for work at Sorenson. I had heard about this job through a student who had previously taken piano lessons from me and now was in one of my music theory classes. I easily was offered a job and began working 14 hours each week for Sorenson. I was not planning to stay with Sorenson long, hoping to log experience with SLCC and build up my piano business further which had grown to about 26 students.
With the bail outs of 2008-2009, many companies lost business which caused people to lose jobs. This domino effect extended to me because with lost jobs, people give up frivolous things. So, I lost many students during this time. To counter the loss, I tried to pick up at least 15 extra hours each week at Sorenson from someone who was trying to trade away their shift.
During the 2009-2010 year at SLCC I was given only two classes to teach as opposed to the regular three classes. People who had lost jobs had come to SLCC to beg for employment, and someone in charge granted it even though there wasn't the need. Therefore, I was pushed aside. Instead of going out to find other work, I worked through my budget and found that if I didn't pay for anything besides the monthly bills, I would be okay - meaning, I had no miscellaneous fund whatsoever.
In March 2010, the Affordable Care Act was passed into law, and businesses across the US had to reorganize. The law would distinguish between full-time and part-time employment in specific detail in order to monitor who would or would not be paid health insurance benefits. This actually improved my situation because adjuncts who had been given four or five classes had to give some of them up. I was given three classes again. However, the hope to increase my class load any further was eliminated.
So, it was established how the next several years would go. Three 3-credit classes was the limit. That worked well for me as long as I did get three. At times I was scheduled for two classes until an assessment of need could be determined. Nervous anticipation always accompanied the waiting. At the same time, I was feeling out the private piano lesson climate. Pam Jones, an adjunct, was basically in charge of it. There is no piano department at SLCC, so a good way to rise to the top is by taking care of a need. She wondered if the school could handle opening up another section of piano lessons. I didn't get any students until one semester Pam and Stephanie Smith had students they couldn't fit into their schedules. They came to me; I, of course, took their surplus students, and the school had to open two sections of private piano lessons for me (MUSC 1730, 1732). The next year I was automatically scheduled for two or three sections (also, MUSC 1735) of private piano lessons, and students signed up.
This workload kept me busy: three classes, several (8-12) piano students, part-time at Sorenson, and 8-12 students in my private studio. I managed it until at the beginning of 2011, my private insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, decided to increase my insurance premium to $600/month to align themselves with Obamacare regulations. Fortunately, at that time Sorenson asked for part-timers to become full-time. I jumped on it; I took on 32 full-time hours, which was a nice option. Since I had been picking up 29 hours for some time, three more was nothing. (I tried to fit in another eight hours but couldn't accomplish that without creating a really undesireable schedule.) With full-time hours came affordable health insurance as well as other benefits. I consider this a blessing of tithing.
At the end of June 2013 we took a trip to the cabin. While there, I could check my work emails, and I found out that organizational changes were taking place. Upon returning, I was informed that my job would be gone by the end of July. Apparently, the FCC had lowered the price per call so significantly that it was not cost-effective to continue SIPRelay. I mulled over what to do, where to go, whether I could live without $1000/month. The next day the management took me aside and, surprisingly, offered me the options of transferring over to CaptionCall, the newly formed company, or receiving a severance pay to cover three months of living expenses. Apparently, because I was full-time and had been there for five years and was in good standing, they were willing to honor my loyalty. I took CaptionCall. Another blessing, I believe, that over these years I had been convinced by the spirit to submit to the endless rules at Sorenson, difficult for a stay-at-home mom who has complete control of her time.
Many people's lives were disrupted because of the dissolution of SIP. Some, like myself, went to CC, while others who should have received better offers, decided to leave. Since Sorenson had to absorb the blow, there were more employees than were needed to operate business in CC. For nearly a year, CC worked to put itself within strict business ratios: expenses vs. income. I found out two years later that the managers at the SLC location were giving disciplinary notices at a rate of 75% higher than the other locations. I know it was to get rid of people, and they were successful. Unfortunately, many would leave hating Sorenson. I was among those who received disciplinary notes. I was slow to learn how to do the captioning. Came to realize, I had to change the way I spoke so that the computer would recognize words. Since I wasn't getting it, I received warnings and a bad taste in my mouth for CaptionCall.
Finally, I got it, all was well, and I was gaining piano students at SLCC until the summer of 2014 when we got word that no adjunct could have more than 9 credit hours. That meant I would have to drop my students, who tended to drop at a whim which would lower my income, and I needed steady income. Toni, the administrative assistant for the Fine Arts and Communications Department, called everyone in to personally discuss the situation with them. By then, I had worked out my schedule, so the meeting was not necessary, but while I was there, trying to make sense of the regulations, I said to Toni, "So, if I need to make a little more money, I cannot work as a staff member (secretarial) for SLCC, correct?" I think that put something into perspective for her, as she was trying to make sense of the regulations as well. Anyway, the next week they reinstated my piano students, apologizing for the confusion and claiming that new light had been shed on the situation. Unfortunately, not many students registered, which I blamed on this mishap. I would later find out that Pam Jones had quit, they had hired a new teacher to pick up Pam's students, and that left me out. I don't know why they couldn't give me her students, except I think it was that I had only a master's degree.
Life continues under Obama.
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