Part 1
We had a feeling this was coming. Since Trump took office, we’ve read about Federal programs and jobs being slashed left and right with no consideration of the impact to individual lives. We’ve read about threats to Special Education and the defunding of education in general. We were especially afraid in February and March this year that our jobs were in jeopardy, even though we were reassured nothing would happen. We played along with Elon’s absurd 5-bullet points email, sending in a weekly report of our value that no one ever read. *(Of course I had to be snarky about this. If you’d like to read what I emailed each week, scroll to the bottom.) We lived in a state of unlimited contingency plans, wondering if we should start packing or job searching. We even sold one of our cars in case we had to leave in a hurry. But, by April, we began to relax. We thought, since we are affiliated with the military, maybe we’d be safe and get to finish our contract. Well, on Friday, May 23rd and with a month left of the school year, Justin received an email that his position was being cut. All Special Education and Speech Assessor as well as Educational Technologist positions throughout all of DODEA schools will be cut. We felt like the rug had been pulled out beneath us and we are still processing what it means.
From what we understand, we basically have two options. 1) Accept leaving and move back to Kansas, hopefully get our possessions shipped back, and start looking for new jobs. Or 2) Have HR assign us another job within DODEA. Justin is currently the SPED Assessor but he is qualified in many areas and could transfer to a SPED or other teaching position. However, we have only been with DODEA for 1 year. We have very low seniority compared to the other displaced employees recently cut. We could be shipped off to a location we don’t want or they could not find an open position that he could fill. With the extremely slow processing times, we might not find out if we had a job until July or August. It’s been alluded to that there are not enough open positions to go around so it’s not looking great.
We are leaning toward Option 1: Move back home and start over. To be completely honest, we were considering leaving after our 2 year contract anyway. This year, I lost both of my grandmothers. In a strange turn of events, it happened within the same week. I found out that my mom’s mother had passed and booked a flight home to Kansas. When the first leg of my flight landed in Atlanta, I learned that my dad’s mother passed as well. I spent two weeks in Kansas, hopping between my mom’s house and my dad’s house. I went through old photographs, reminisced with family, spent slow mornings sipping tea and having deep conversations, ate great food, and even got to catch up a bit with friends. There was some jet lag, some tears, and I annoyingly caught COVID, but I wouldn’t trade those 2 weeks for anything. I needed it more than I knew. I know it sounds cliche, but it just felt like home. It was healing and so good for my soul to be back around the people I love. Traveling around Europe is great, but it was being back in Kansas with my friends and family, sitting around doing nothing at all that really made me feel whole. It took the death of my grandmas and that visit to realize that my priorities had changed. Justin and I agreed that money and travel just don’t compare with being around loved-ones. We miss them and we want to nurture those relationships in a way that can’t be done from overseas. And I want my children to have fond and frequent memories with their grandparents too. They love trips to the pool, baking cookies, helping with the gardens, and sharing meals with their grandparents. I don’t want a job to stand in the way of that.
We also realized after our arrival in the Netherlands that this place isn’t ideal for our kids as they get older. Finding a job for teenagers in the Netherlands would be nearly impossible since our kids don’t speak Dutch and there aren’t really jobs on the American or NATO bases for teens. Some kids bag groceries at the Commissary, but they only work for tips. It’s not an actual paid position. Mostly they just sit in the corner, staring at their phones while everyone goes through the self-checkout. Kind of sad. Then there’s the fact that a Dutch driver’s license is very difficult to get and the legal driving age is 18 years old. Our kids wouldn’t have those formative life-experiences of driving and having a job before going off to college. That just doesn’t seem fair. And the cherry on top is that, although we like our school, they are seriously lacking in the Electives department for High Schoolers- no art and no theater. I am a huge advocate for the arts and I have seen my kids thrive participating in arts programs. I want to encourage them to develop their skills and love of visual and performing arts and that would be difficult here.
However, I would have liked to finish our 2 year contract in the Netherlands. I feel like we just got settled. I had visions of next school year, feeling more confident in our location and checking more items off our bucket list. We already had flights, a hotel, and activities booked for a trip to Scotland next October to celebrate Justin’s 40th birthday. My mom and her husband were planning to visit next Spring to explore Portugal and Spain. I guess that won’t be happening.
But I have to keep reminding myself that we will be okay no matter what happens. We have a great support system. We kept our house in Kansas. We are well-qualified professionals. It’s going to be okay. And we were lucky to have this experience in Europe, even if it was cut short. Part 2 of this post is all about that- looking at the bright side and reflecting on what we’ve been able to accomplish this year. Stay tuned.
My 5 Bullet Points Email to DOGE. I sent the same thing week after week:
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 