Chapter 4: Secondary vocational education (part 2): Care and Welfare

In August 2018, May was ready for a new challenge. She eventually opted for the Care and Welfare course. As I mentioned before, May loves to help others and she also loves children very much, which will also play a big role. She first started with a level lower, level 2: Helping Care and Welfare. What was expected from this training? “You support people with their household or personal care, for example in a nursing or care home, home care or childcare. You always look closely at what someone still wants and can do, but also what someone considers important. You provide exactly the help that a client and his loved ones need. And you take into account the agreements in the care plan. You do your work at the client's home, but sometimes also at the place where someone is staying temporarily or for a long time.” May indeed likes housework and likes taking care of people. How old, sick or disabled someone is, it makes no difference to May. She gets along well with everyone. She is also practical, handy, friendly and helpful. Working irregular hours? She doesn't think that's a problem. The training only lasted a year, and she also learned a lot of new things at school. In addition, she was in a new class again. Many were girls, which May got along with more easily than the boys, so she liked that very much. I don't know if there were any other fat girls in the class. She gets along well with everyone. She is also practical, handy, friendly and helpful. Working irregular hours? She doesn't think that's a problem. The training only lasted a year, and she also learned a lot of new things at school. In addition, she was in a new class again. Many were girls, which May got along with more easily than the boys, so she liked that very much. I don't know if there were any other fat girls in the class. If not, May would have been the fattest girl in class. What an honor! After a year, she completed the course without any problems and moved on to the next level.

In August 2019, May started with the third level, Pedagogical Employee Childcare. What exactly does this training entail? “You work in a nursery, a playgroup or after-school or out-of-school care. You take care of children, care for them and support them in their development. In addition to feeding, eating and drinking, you offer development-oriented activities. Together with your colleagues, you provide a safe, trusted and stimulating environment in which children feel comfortable and can develop fully.” May certainly enjoys working with children and encouraging them in their development. She does this with great care and understanding. She works well together and is able to consult, plan and organize. And she is professional, social and speaks good Dutch. The training lasted 3 years. A number of lessons were the same, but she also received the lessons Child and Environment, Methodical Guidance, Pedagogy and Psychology. She also received Sports and Games, but May was not waiting for that. She liked games, but not sports and games involving physical exercise. May knows she doesn't have the energy for that because she was a bit fatter and heavier. Still, she did her best, and so did the other lessons and theories.

Not only was May regularly in school, but she also had internships at various daycare centers and preschools. That was a very important part of the training. At each school year, she did an internship for 30 weeks, divided over 2 to 3 days a week. She got to know more and more toddlers, preschoolers and schoolchildren and their parents. She cared for, entertained and fed the toddlers. May also liked to play with the children, although she was completely out of shape. She also planned fun activities. But most of all, she shared her love for all children. And that was exactly why she had chosen this course. May wanted so badly to become a mother and take care of her own children. If I had been one of the kids at daycare, I would never have forgotten May. All her enthusiasm understanding and love she had given me. Not only would I not forget her features, but also her full body. With such a full supervisor, she could hug me well. With her fat ass, she could crush me like that. And with her big belly, I immediately knew she could eat a lot. It was such a shame to say goodbye to such a sweet and fat supervisor who I otherwise got along very well with. But, luckily I am very good friends with May and fortunately there is no goodbye. Fortunately I can still see her, meet up and do fun things.

After 3 long years of theories, practices and internships, the time had come: the final exams. May had tried very hard to prepare properly. She didn't want the same thing to happen again as in her previous education. I wished my fattest friend May the very best of luck with the exams and that I fully supported her. Her fat friend, Melanie, also wished her the best of luck. May went all out. She took her exams, one more difficult than the other. After a few weeks, she received her results from her mentor. “May, you passed! Congratulations"! The fat girl jumped up for joy. The tables and chairs shook as May jumped. When I visited her home that same day, I congratulated May with a big hug. “May, congratulations on graduating! I'm super proud of you! Here's a little something for you." I gave her a small present, which contained homemade cookies. May was very happy with it and gave me a big hug back. "Thank you! I'm going to eat it right away today!" I really wanted to hear that. No delay, just snack right away. A month later, in July 2022, was the graduation ceremony. May had the honor of signing and collecting the diploma. Her family and friends were there. Unfortunately I couldn't be there myself, but I had thought of her. And so May ended her school and college years, and was able to start working.

These first 4 chapters were more about the past and May's college years. From the next chapter, more personal stories begin. And that is definitely going to get a little more interesting.

To be continued…-> Chapter 5: Love in the air?