Experiences at Council for Exceptional Children

30-40 minutes on mostly back roads to get to work. Sterling to Ballston. No big deal. I loved going to work. Getting home, that's trouble. Sometimes an hour to get home. Worth every minute.

Look for opportunities to make your life and the lives of the people you work with easier. It'll help out everyone in the end.

Bide your time. Be Patient. Learn when to fight for something and when to let something pass. Negotiation and collaboration is very, very important. Aside from those lessons which are good for any job, it pays to note that the Non-Profit world is NOTHING like the corporate world. But it also pays to note that there are times when an association wants very much to act like a corporation....

Coming to work every day knowing I could help someone just by doing my job.

the IDEAPractices.org redesign. The redesign was good enough to warrant the National Education Association taking a good hard look at how well the site was re-designed so they could see what they could "steal" for their own sites. They loved it.

Getting a real understanding of what it means to work with kids with special needs from the perspective of the teachers who teach them. They work so hard and do so much with far too little.

The entire company. The entire organization was filled with inspired, dedicated professionals that really did their best to help teachers and their students.

The amount of funding the organization would receive and be able to spend on projects. "No Child Left Behind" left far too many children behind, and organizations like CEC had to do their best to pick up the pieces.

Nice big cubicle, but some folks had offices. I really didn't care what I had so long as I could see a window or had privacy when I needed it.

That depends, what would you like to eat? Fantastic restaurants within a short walking distance with a Fondue restaurant immediately downstairs for dinners. (The Melting Pot)