John Mitchell Ulibarri, SBT
As I mentioned in the installment, Just Our Luck! Part 2: The Wanderers, Paige got a promotion at the beginning of last summer. This is how I found out: one night in late June, Paige had volunteered to do a deep clean of the store, and nobody else in her position had volunteered. While she was cleaning, her boss asked, “Paige, are you a Team Lead?”
“No,” Paige replied.
“Do you want to be?” Her boss continued.
When I picked Paige up, she was on the phone with her younger brother, and she told him that she had got promoted over the phone, mostly to see me spaz out a little bit. Now Paige had only been working at Panera, since October 2024. I have been working at New Story since 2019, and I have not gotten a promotion.
OK fine, that’s not entirely true. I started working at Haugland (the school that I went to when I was first diagnosed with autism), in 2019 in the after school program. I then got laid off in April 2020, as a result of Covid. Then I started working at New Story in 2021, after they bought Haugland out, as a Teacher Support. So yes, I got into a higher position, but it wasn’t while I was technically employed with the company.
Before we continue, I need to get a little more technical in terms of what I do. I work in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), which because New Story is a school, means I apply behavior science to education. People who went to school for ABA are called Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs). People who didn’t go to school for ABA, but still want a certification, can become a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT). Feeling inspired by Paige, I reached out to a BCBA that I work with at New Story, about a week before we returned for the 2025-26 school year. She suggested that instead of becoming an RBT I become a Specialized Behavior Technician (SBT). It’s easier to maintain than an RBT and the only downside is, I can never work in an ABA clinic (which I wasn’t planning on anyway).
On Friday, December 19th 2025, my brothers, Paige, my coworkers, (Elizabeth, Kaylee, Emily, Lexi Greg, Alaina, and Clay), and my childhood friend Elana, who I reconnected with at this year's Thread of Hope, went out to an arcade bar to celebrate me finally finishing my credential.
When I looked at my friends, and family, I smiled. The name of this season is goals and dreams as I am trying a new system to reach my goals and dreams more effectively. This was not a goal that I had going into this year. And yet I think that's the beauty of this new system. It's a way more flexible way of reaching my goals and it allows me to add new goals as I go.
Have a Greattastic Day and be Safe,
J. Mitchell Ulibarri, SBT
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