By Kathleen Kenna
Peter Droese was “down-sized” last spring, but he’s not down.
Peter Droese
The 39-year-old medical librarian has overcome so many challenges in his life, that he’s viewing unemployment as an opportunity.
Droese has returned to school to get a degree in vocational rehabilitation counseling, to work with returning veterans and other people with disabilities.
He’s had a strong career as an information resource specialist as the University of Massachusetts Medical School, senior faculty at Cambridge College‘s grad school of management, and health policy librarian at the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
“I need a real job, just like everyone else,” he says from Boston. “It’s been tough these last few months. My unemployment will run out … and I don’t know how much longer I can drive.”
Yet, Droese emphasizes, “Better times are coming.”
There’s no particular reason for this optimism, except Droese’s strong resilience.
Born premature, he had open-heart surgery at only 10 months of age. He was very ill before he learned to walk. His family was cautioned that cerebral palsy would prove so limiting, that Droese wouldn’t be allowed to go to school.
“My mom led a campaign for educating children with special needs,” Droese recalls.
Such tenacity is obviously in his genes. As a youngster, Droese dreamed of becoming a Boy Scout, despite multiple incidents of detached retinas that threatened his vision, and an early diagnosis of hydrocephalus, a potentially brain-damaging condition.
“My only dream was to see Eagle Scout,” he says.
Droese reached that goal by Grade 7, the highest honor for any Scout.
“I did it because I wanted to prove I could do anything,” he says, adding that his greatest high school achievement was going to Russia as an exchange student.
Considering his family was warned that Droese wasn’t worth educating as a boy, he went on to earn degrees in human studies and human services (Bradford College), then a Masters in library and information science (Simmons College).
Yet college was interrupted by a traumatic brain injury and infections as a result of the hydrocephalus, and Droese had to learn to talk again. His solution? Toastmasters.
“I went to Toastmasters as part of my rehabilitation. I used public speaking to retrain my brain,” Droese says. “I used it to practice for job interviews.”
His determination paid off: Droese became so skilled at public speaking, he was asked to deliver the keynote address at a national library science conference.
“It is what it is,” Droese says matter-of-factly. “You just go forward.”
After losing his job at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in April, Droese says he applied for the Masters program in vocational rehabilitation counseling at Assumption College because “I’m ready for my next challenge.”
He adds, “I view it as a protective measure, to deal with the layoff.”
Droese recalls meeting someone professionally who had been involved in one of his brain surgeries, and realizing what a difference that one specialist had made in his life.
“There are so many veterans returning from war with hydrocephalus,” Droese says. “If I can make that kind of difference in just one life, it would be worth it.”
He’s seeking work in vocational rehabilitation as a result, that combines his skills in case management and project management, information services and career counseling.
Droese admits that a job search can be discouraging in a market like Boston, despite sending out resumes and cover letters, and tapping his network daily.
“It’s been a roller coaster these last six months,” he says. “This recession we’re in now is just as bad as the last Depression. My students would tell me there are no bread lines, and I would say, ‘it’s just hidden.’ ”
Job searching is more difficult now, “especially because employers are looking for the perfect candidate,” Droese suggests. “They don’t know what they want — maybe the last person in that job. He doesn’t exist anymore.”
Droese credits his optimism to a good support network of family and friends. Married eight years, he has one son, six-year-old Luke, and says having a close family “has really been amazing.”
See Peter Droese’s profile at LinkedIn.
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