Life in the military can be a bit of a challenge, mixed with a lot of excitement. As my children graduated high school, I wondered what I wanted to do next. A friend recommended applying for the Military Spouse Fellowship through the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE). This fellowship would allow me to become an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC). My husband’s orders stated we would be at our duty station for another year, so the timing seemed perfect.
After being selected for the program, we received orders to report to a different time zone about the time the classes started. As we packed the week before my classes began, the chaos created doubts about my ability to complete the course.
I logged on for my first webinar from a hotel room. Not only had I never attended a webinar before, but I did not even know what a webinar was. My hands shook as I logged in, but taking notes calmed me because I had printed the slideshow beforehand. The one glitch in my first course was related to my books. Only one of my books arrived before we moved. After a quick email, AFCPE sent the rest to my new address.
As I unpacked my new home, my husband arranged for Internet service. It connected at 4 p.m., with two hours to spare before I logged into the second webinar with my laptop propped up on a moving box. The rest of the classes went smoothly. Then, I had to take an exam.
WAIT a minute! How do I do that? I needed a proctor. Yet, another thing I had never done before. I headed to the education center on base. The person who used to do proctoring gave me the name of a community college professor. After a call and several emails, I took my first of two exams. I passed my exam and moved on to focus on hours for my practicum.
Thanks to helpful hints from past fellows, I volunteered on base to gain experience for the practicum. It was initially slow, but then I started shadowing a financial counselor. I gained more confidence and started helping him teach classes. I passed my second exam and spent a year volunteering for my hours.
The AFCPE fellowship is terrific for military spouses because it is so flexible. I did not worry about attending classes in a set location. I was able to schedule exams at my pace and within my schedule. The ideas for practicum hours were invaluable, and the people running this fellowship were encouraging and helpful. I am so thankful I was selected to do this fellowship, and I cannot wait to continue to help people with their finances at our next station. The learning curve was steep, but being able to serve military families in this capacity was worth the effort.
What do you want to do next? How can you challenge yourself to grow?
Jennifer Wake, AFC
@mom23wakes
Jennifer Wake is an Army wife, mother of three grown children, teacher, and writer. She loves mentoring military spouses, especially chaplain’s spouses who serve sacrificially. Her passions include writing books and blogs, developing training material, networking with women, and quilting. She resides in Bristow, VA, with her wonderful husband and two dogs.