Published on 12, July, 2020
My name is Amy and I am 26 years old. Where do I start...I have been on the sick for 4/5 years or more and I am at that stage (or have been for a few years) that I felt like I'm not doing anything in my life. Women my age have successful careers, driving, have families etc but I am still living with my parents (loving it still xD).
For the past three months I have been volunteering at an Animal Rescue place helping with the hedgehogs (which I love), I would really love to have a career in animal rescue but because of my age and that I don't drive there aren't any courses close to me who accept me or of course the courses cost a lot. It's the same with apprenticeships too, there is tons of childcare but nothing to do with animals. I would of done animal care when I was younger but when I went to an open evening they asked "do you own a pet?" when I answered no they said "you can't do the course". So then I went on to do childcare for 3 years and passed but now I feel that if I just ignored those women and just applied I wouldn't be in this situation and if I wanted to do childcare I could easily get an apprenticeship.
So now I am stuck in my life, feeling more depressed about it and putting tons of weight on because I emotionally eat. I tried looking for anything I could from home but there wasn't anything I could do. When I got diagnosed in 2017 it was the best thing because I now understood why I was different. The process was really in depth and that's what I wanted. However, at the end they just gave us leaflets and left us on my own so since then I have been struggling to find any help or support for me and my parents.I don't want to hit age 30 and not done anything with my life or have anything to look forward too. Its especially hard with this pandemic going on.
I spend my days (when I'm not volunteering that is) by reading, playing games on my laptop with online friends, watching tv and sometimes colouring. Nothing really exciting to be honest, I am a creative person and work better hands on that's why I feel an apprenticeship is good for me. At the moment I don't know who talk to, I talk to my parents all the time about anything and they know how I feel I just thought maybe posting on this community might help.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day x
P.S. I have had suicidal thoughts in the past and that's what got me to be put on depression tablets
Hello, Amy Do you have a good relationship with the staff at the animal rescue place? If so, then maybe you could talk to them about a path to employment with them. Or at least they could maybe vary your work or offer you more challenging volunteering roles so you can build up your experience. Are there any more animal rescue places or perhaps conservation organisations near you that you could volunteer for? Some conservation organisations offer opportunities to survey local wildlife. There are also charitable organisations that help with education costs so you could try searching Turn2us to look for grants to help pay for courses. And then there's the National Careers Service who may be able to help you figure out a path to the career you want. Best of luck to you whatever you choose to do.
Hi Systematic,
Thank you for replying to my post. I have just looked up the National Careers Service (not sure if it’s legit) but I found an online course with The College of Animal Welfare. I have looked for information on the college and it looks legit etc so I am hoping that this maybe a way forward.
Thank you x
i just looked up the national careers service it is a gov website so should be legit