Pamela Karavite ~ Portfolio
Seeking Significance...
SHE Saved His Life... THEY Changed Mine
In the Beginning ~ It is often said that we shouldn’t let life change our goals because achieving our goals can change our life. I have always believed that to be true, until “life” changed my goals; ultimately, opening me up to something bigger within me. When I started my journey at Michigan State University, I had come from a business background in terms of my work and scholastic experience. I spent 15 years with positions such as Business Administration Manager, Sales and Marketing, and Director of Human Resources. During that time, I obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. After getting married, my husband and I decided it would be best for our family if I left the workforce and stayed home with our children. Since my husband works as a film and television cameraman, he is away on set 80% of the year. It was important to us that our children have at least one parent home with them. The precious years I have spent with them were the most rewarding years of my life; however, once my youngest was in school all day, I decided it was time to look toward MY future. What will I do? Keeping in mind my desire to be on the same schedule as my children, working in education was my first thought. Additionally, during my time at home, my children and I were always involved in charity work which began as a way to teach them the importance of giving back, but ended up being a huge source of happiness for me. While volunteering for the Special Olympics, March of Dimes, and Make-A-Wish, I recalled many parents talking about the lack of preschools for special needs children in our area. For me, it was clear… I would take my business background, add to that a Master of Arts in Education, with a concentration on Special Education, and a secondary concentration on P-12 School and Postsecondary Leadership, and open a preschool for special needs children.
Goal Interrupted ~ In a strange twist of fate, everything changed. My oldest son Nick was diagnosed with a rare blood disease, Severe Aplastic Anemia. One day I’m watching my son pitch a no-hitter baseball game, and four days later we are in a hospital hearing that he may die. Nothing can ever prepare one for such a blow. His survival chances were 50%, increasing to 80% if he had a sibling match for a bone marrow transplant. We were very blessed that my youngest child, Mandy, at five years old, was a perfect match (and willing to donate her “bones” to save her brother for $5 and a box of ring pops). Before I could blink, we were heading off to the University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital to check Nick in, begin chemotherapy to kill off remaining bad bone marrow, and prepare for the transplant. Once Nick was released from the hospital, he had to spend almost his entire 8th grade year in isolation as he had no immune system. Between running back and forth to U of M for blood work and well-care visits, I home schooled him to ensure he was prepared for his first year of high school. My methods had to be creative to work around his lack of stamina, inability to concentrate, his mental state as he battled depression, and the day-to-day changes with regard to how he was feeling physically. Together, we did a fabulous job, and Nick was well-prepared to begin high school in the fall, and he is currently getting all A’s. He is still recovering, showing mostly upward strides, and Mandy is doing well (not counting the 8 cavities from the plethora of ring pops gifted to her).
Direction Changed ~ All our lives have been forever changed by our experience. The most immediate change took place the month we were in U of M. Our floor was made up of children battling life-threatening illnesses such as: Leukemia, Brain Tumors, Blood Disorders, Cancer, etc. Not that we hadn’t heard of the suffering of such children, but to see it first hand is life-changing. I can remember walking the halls at night with Nick to keep him moving, and wondering to myself… what can I do to help? It has never been lost on me that there is a reason we went through all this. After completion of my Masters, my new goal is to make a difference in the lives of children. Maybe that is tutoring children like Nick that are isolated either at home or in the hospital, facilitating wishes, or helping other families negotiate the crazy world of having a child with a life-threatening illness… Anything that allows me to work in some capacity to help a child, feeding my soul, is where I intend to be.