u/whoreforcheese

Hello guys! Im pursuing my Bachelors Degree in Data Analytics and I recently ran into a Prospect researcher out in the wild. I have never heard of this career and I found it particularly interesting because Ive always wanted to go into Non-Profit work but felt like I wanted to work on the Grant research side of things. I did some Grant research and writing for a friend last year. I SUPER enjoyed the part where I search for Grants. That really put me on to the idea that it was an industry that I wanted to go into after school or even during, as an intern to gain experience.

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Are any of you all Prospect researchers? What would be a great way to build a portfolio or a CV for when im done with school in the next year? Any tips or ideas to expand my network as well would be appreciated.

I guess Im just venting/looking for advice. I had my oldest when I was really young. For context I will be 33 this year and they are 13. They were born female but identify as Non-Binary so I will be addressing them as They/Them.

They had quite a tumultuous first few years of life as I was not financially or mentally stable to have a kid so young. Originally I was a SAHM for their first 3 years of life but we moved back to my hometown when their dad and I split and I went back to work as a single mom, then they moved back to their dad's as he was the more financially stable parent.

About 4 years ago I married my now husband and we have lived separately for that period of time. However, they are here every summer, every other Christmas and we fly to them for major events (milestone birthdays, graduation etc.) So I am by no means an absentee parent, they have a bank account that I keep topped off with a set amount and its autopaid into weekly. I call regularly, we text regularly. I try to be as involved as possible and also offered for them to live with us more than once as they have their own room and its furnished and decorated how they want. For some reason, it just feels like they dont want me to parent them at all. Theyre rude and mean to me unless they want something and it just really hurts my heart because I dont feel like they've need much correction until recently.

Maybe its just them being a teen or maybe its the lack of my presence and I dont know which makes me feel worse. I have tried everything in my power to "make up" for not being there every single day and again we have offered them to live in our house for years, we even bought this house with the idea that they would eventually move into it with us. At no point have they ever been an afterthought to us and on top of that, they get whatever they ask for. I'm at a loss here, does it just suck being the parent of a teen or am I the problem?