I Quit My Job to Go Full time Chess?! Part 3: Both Feet in the Door
It's kinda funny, but this whole career change thing feels really familiar to me. Back around 2000 I was working at Allstate Insurance but was going to school for urban planning. I was reading books about community development corporations (CDC's), which were basically these non-profits that were literally taking matters into their own hands and revitalizing distressed urban neighborhoods. I was fascinated by them, and I was talking to my cousin about them one day when she said, "So why don't you go work for one?" Umm yeah why don't I?
Allstate was a good solid job and they were providing tuition reimbursement, which given that I ended up never having any student debt, I was right to not discard that benefit flippantly. So even though that kept me from skipping out immediately, what I did do is offer to volunteer to work part-time at one of these awesome organizations. Yeah, I'd be working unpaid, but I would gain valuable experience, learn about the organization and the work and well, I would love it! It would be like a dream doing the actual work on the ground.
Slavic Village Development, Cleveland, OH
Well, that volunteering turned out to be the equivalent of two feet in the door. After that summer I was offered a little money to stay on a few hours a week and after that?? Yeah, about a year later I was offered a job! When I mentioned that I was getting tuition reimbursement, the organization even added to compensate me that way as well. So that volunteering experience led to securing my actual dream job, for the same money I was making at Allstate Insurance. And as you might have guessed, this is the job, at Slavic Village Development, that I maintained for the last 20 years. It has been a wonderful experience. I still feel it is a strong, passionate organization that does the real work of neighborhood revitalization. It was an honor and a joy being a part of that, but of course that is done now. I'm onto the next chapter!
And that chapter is chess. 
In my early wondering into the chess world, it didn't take long for people to tell me about a local chess-based organization that was also non-profit. They did all of the stuff I was interested in. They taught kids chess, they ran tournaments, they coached, they did chess programming, they brought chess into schools, promoted chess, and basically were the leaders in the area (and maybe the state?). Just their existence floored me and I knew I had to get involved immediately, in some small way if I could...
To be continued!
-Stacia <3
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