Now she makes her own schedule. She is still as busy as before, advocating for students’ education in the Los Angeles area and doing volunteer work.

“I see the direction education is going downhill. I can’t allow that to happen,” she said.

Kono worked as a pupil services and attendance counselor for four years in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She did a lot of behind-the-scenes work, checking attendance records and identifying students who needed assistance.

Back at Loren Miller Elementary, she was constantly meeting with students and parents, consulting with teachers and going out to people’s homes.

She received a pink slip in March, the third one in a roll for the past three years. The final notice came at the end of June to Kono and more than 100 of her fellow counselors out of 300 in the district.

Kono hates not influencing students’ lives, not continuing her career path, and having financial concerns.

“It’s like a transition. I’m definitely not used to being unemployed,” she said.

While she and her colleagues work to get their jobs back, Kono remains realistic. She started searching jobs online the first day her children returned to school in September.

Before working for the district, she worked 20 years in community-based organizations. She started out as a counselor, and moved to program coordination and management. She feels she is at a crossroads.

“I could be selective, but eventually I need to go back [to the community],” she said.

Her idea of career success is to make a positive impact on others’ life to help them realize they can make changes in their lives with strength and efforts, and make their life successful. She plans to complete her working hours for her license as a clinical social worker within a year once she gets a job.

Kono and her family have been financially stable all these years. They’re undergoing financial constraints. She receives the highest amount of unemployment insurance every two weeks, which barely covers the basic necessities of two adults and two children in the city of Gardena. But she feels lucky that her husband has a job.

Kono and her husband both have college degrees. She says there are people less fortunate because they may be single and have families to feed, or if they’re married, their partner may not be working.

“The hardships I personally face, if I compared that to other people in unemployment field, definitely they’re struggling more,” she said.

Kono now prioritizes her family living expenses, and areas she can cut back on, including going out to eat and different types of entertainment. She cut her daughter’s after-school program which she said is a huge cost saving.

“I want to be able to provide whatever they want within reason,” she said. “I want to be able to go on a really nice summer vacation. I think those are luxuries.”

She tries to stay optimistic about getting re-employed.

“I can only do so much. I do my part, and hopefully the positive will come back,” she said.