I don't know where to put this. It could go in Work Place too.
I am a High School Drop Out.... And I don't have a GED. There. I said it. The reason being is that I have a huge math phobia. I am dyslexic with numbers. I grew up in the 60's and 70's where it was not really addressed . Coupled with the fact that my step dad is an engineer and math was second nature to him. Then add to the mix that he grew up in an abusive home. He got very frustrated with me because I would transpose my numbers and I was failing math. I would have home work. Math was like a foreign language to me. He would try to help me with my math. I would transpose everything. And he would hit me every time I did it wrong. Of course that made things worse. After years of this, they just let me sink. And as long as I didn't have to deal with math, I excelled in all of my other classes. English, Social Studies, you name it, I had it covered. But was not able to graduate high school due to math. And in 1978 that was fine by me. I wanted to be out of the house, have my books, music, art, horses and attend midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show on the weekends and be left alone. I was able to live ok as I was single and had a job that paid pretty good and had a lot of OT. And it didn't require proof of a high school diploma or GED. I was ( and am) very well spoken, smart and well polished. Except for math. And I was able to bluff my way out of any social interactions that had to do with math
After about 10 years out of high school the menial job with the mandatory OT was getting old. And my interest in riding/showing horses had out grew the local saddle club . I wanted to show at the breed ( Appaloosa) regional with an eye at the National level. I found out that I needed to go back to school in order to make the kind of money that I needed without the excessive OT
A series of events lead me to going to school as a dental assistant. One of the requirements was that I needed at high school diploma or high school equivalent. It was an eleven month program. The school advisor said that I could take my GED during the program. Which my math phobia turned into an out and out panic attack. I did quite well in dental assisting school passed everything with a 95% or better. But since I never got my GED, All I got was a certificate that I attended the course. No diploma that I actually graduated .
That never held me back from getting good jobs as a dental assistant. Very very good jobs. No one ever asked if I graduated from high school or had a high school equivalent. I could bluff my way through any math issues without much problems I was/ am good as my job.
I grew up in a suburb of Seattle and by 2003, the cute 1900 sq ft house with an equally cute 3 stall barn on one acre that I bought in 1989 was being was being squeezed out by housing developments and high property taxes. I had also since 1989 gotten married, divorced ad remarried, Went to the Appaloosa Nationals several times and placed in the ribbons. I was a supporter of the local saddle clubs and breed regional clubs. I had also dated a lot of men . Not one person suspected that I was not the well polished person I pretended I was .
My current husband and I decided to move closer to his job and to my horse trainer. We moved to a place that had a much much lower cost of living and was able to pay cash for our new place. Fast forward to the recession. I got a job with a nonprofit organization . My resume was great and not one person asked me about my high school diploma or GED. This was in 2009. This non-profit organization has several branches that caters to low income families. A dental center, a daycare/ pre school, a medical center and a respite center for medically fragile children for their caretakers. Fast forward to a month ago, the dental practice is being bought by another ( very large) non-profit organization . We , had to interview for our jobs " as a formality" . On my resume, I just put XZY High School 1978. When I interviewed, nothing was asked about it. However, I j( and everyone else that I work with) just received a packet and a list of things that we have to produce. One of which says " diploma" it doesn't say to what though. I went on their website and clicked on " Careers" and every one of them, even the janitorial jobs says you must have a high school diploma or equivalent .
What should I do ? Do I go to them see if they will let me take a GED? Do I fake my way through it? I will also add that I only work part time, just to pay for my horse habit. But dental is what I have done for a long time. If I can work in a high end cosmetic dental office and then spend 9 years at a non profit office that I helped build, then does it really matter if I have a GED or high school diploma? I am very good that what I do and I have had a lot of parents and their children request that I see their kids. Does my math phobia really matter now? It's now really turned into a math panic mode.
Sorry if this is long and rambling.