Josef's Comeback: Patience Meets Purpose

Josef Wansing has always known what he's wanted to do. He wants to work with kids. Help them. Be useful. Be present.

About a year ago, that dream felt close enough to grasp. Josef had just been hired as an assistant teacher at a daycare, which was work that lined up neatly with his strengths and his hopes. Then, almost as quickly as it began, everything came to a halt. An injury took him off the job and out of work. Next: surgery. After that? Months of waiting.

"I was sad," Josef says simply. "I was living by myself. I was doing so good. Then I was living with my mom and dad again."

For somebody who values independence, the setback landed with a thud. Josef did not like operating in life without a job. He missed the rhythm of having someplace to go, something to contribute. Still, he didn't abandon his dream. By the time he recovered, he returned to job development with his Employment Specialist, Carolee Corrigan, and picked up exactly where he had left off: looking for work with children.

What came next was the beginning of a long-enduring adventure.

Interview after interview. Practice interviews. Real interviews. Phone calls that began as promising and then went quiet. Positions that almost fit. Others that weren't quite there. At one point, Josef and his family counted roughly 15 interviews - maybe even more - over the course of the year.

And yet, Josef never stopped believing this was the path chosen for him.

"Just being patient will work," he says. "Thinking that it will eventually work for you."

That patience showed up big-time... and so did the preparation. With Carolee's support, Josef kept volunteering to build experience, refine his skill set, and stay connected to the kind of work he wanted to pursue. With time, interviewing became easier. His confidence boosted. His answers grew more fluid, more like the person he's envisioned for a long time.

Then came a call that changed everything.

After an earlier interview that hadn't led anywhere, the principal at Boonslick State School reached back out. The role they'd discussed wasn't the right fit, but she didn't want to let Josef go.

"She created a position for him," Josef's mom, Anne, recalls. "That just doesn't happen."

Today, Josef works at Boonslick State School as a paraprofessional, supporting students with disabilities throughout the day. His schedule is structured, but never enough to be stale. He helps with adaptive P.E., assists during lunch, supports classroom routines, and rotates between classrooms - always greeting familiar faces, moving through familiar rhythms, and experiencing enough variation to keeps things interesting every day.

"Same every day," Josef says, then pauses. "But different things come up. Then you never know what's coming."

When asked his favorite part of the job, his answer leaves no doubt.

"Helping the kids."

It's a life that fits him perfectly. His calm presence. His overwhelming patience and consistent optimism. At Boonslick, those qualities are noticed. Essential. The staff is supportive and the environment understanding. Josef is never asked to be somebody he's not. He's valued for being Josef.

Outside of work, Josef lives in his own apartment and is thinking about what comes next.

• More hours in the future
• Increased responsibilities
• Maybe, someday, a condo with a deck

For Anne, the change over the past year has left her elated.

"I don't worry as much as I used to," she says. "His future looks really bright. He can grow with this job, and it can turn into something big for him."

Josef knows the road that led him here was incredibly difficult, but that just makes it all the more worth it right now.

"Your dream job will come eventually," he says. "It's important to stay patient and figure out what you want to do."

Patience never meant sitting down and letting the world come to him. It was the result of showing up again and again. Now, the floodgates have opened.

Going through something similar? Our Employment Services team is here to help.