Lady A, an introduction: I quit my job in March hoping to find a new one in the Atlanta area within a month. Was that extremely optimistic of me? Maybe. I must admit, not much happened.
Yet, despite the fact that I drive a clunker past her glory days, despite the fact that gas is $4 a gallon, despite the fact that I can no longer afford my own place and am semi-temporarily back on my parents couch, I do not regret my decision. Was the trade-off of leaving an unfulfilling job for an uncertain job market worth it? Uh, yeah. I honestly don’t regret taking the leap, packing my stuff, and leaving my last position, my last city, and the safety net that was tangling me. To be honest, the job was a blatant misuse of my talent and I am ashamed to have stayed so long. Let me illustrate:
Imagine graduating at the top of your class. You’re young optimistic and believe the lie that a four year degree guarantees a job. So you go to college, get your bachelor’s in four years (poor fool), travel the world a little, and start thinking, “Dang, I’m so intellectually evolved…maybe I should just be someone’s boss already.”—not exactly in those words, but you get it.
But you don’t get the dream job and you get something that pays with great benefits, but you only push buttons day in and day out. At first, you’re happy to get the bill collectors off your back, begin paying back those student loans you amassed, but then, bit by bit, your brain starts screaming to be used because it knows it can do more than press a button. It wants a position that allows it the freedom to think. You look at the zombies around you all content and you start thinking about the benefits and the steady pay. This is your safety net in a shaky economy, so you stay.
Before you know it, a year has gone by and you’re still pressing buttons for the man, 40 hours a week plus mandatory overtime. Nothing changes; nothing challenges you. You begin feeling like an underachiever after seeing all the happy faces on Facebook—people with real jobs with career potential. (Jealousy makes you see what you want to see)
That was the state of mind I found myself in when I decided to jump ship. I didn’t want my life to go up in flames and I’d already wasted two years doing something I hated. I don’ have kids, nor am I attached; the only thing keeping me grounded was me.
Now I’m jobless, BUT I am enrolled in a Master’s of Teaching course with the University of Southern California (Go Trojans). It’s online, interactive, and will open so many more doors than the stagnancy I was living in.
Do I want to teach? I don’t know. Can I see myself doing something else….(panicked stare as I begin thinking of the future)…What I do know is that I’m 25 with a clock ticking somewhere (According to Daddy) and I need to “get it together.” What does that mean? My dad thinks I intentionally like not having a clue. LOL.
As for my future, it’s a work in progress. Maybe you’ll enjoy watching me figure it out along the way. :)
Lady A
Lady A
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