Most People Change Careers At Some Point
I remember being told in college that statistically speaking, I would probably change career paths at least once in my life, if not more. I thought that was a ludicrous idea. After all, I was committing 4 years of rigorous study to my degree, and then I went on to 2 years of graduate school, at Harvard of all places, so I was pretty darn committed to what I was doing.
If you would have told me the day I earned my master’s degree in theological studies that 9 years later I would be working from home as a blogger and brand ambassador, as well as staying at home with my 2 little girls, I would have been very confused, indeed.
You see, back when I was 23 and knew EVERYTHING, I thought staying at home with kids was not at all for me. And I’ll admit that at that time in my life, I even thought it was a backwards thing to do. It is painful to acknowledge that, because I’m so embarrassed that I ever felt that way, but it is the honest truth.
Re-Imagining My Career Path
MSN, in honor of their new site redesign, has asked me to talk about a time when I’ve re-imagined part of my own life. The timing for this post is perfect, as I’m smack-dab in the middle of such a personal and professional re-design. For a few years I have been “doing the blogging thing” to provide a little bit of supplemental income and to provide fun things to my family that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford on one salary. Until fairly recently, I didn’t even allow myself to imagine that blogging could become something more than a daily writing exercise and a source of community for me that could help us get by, financially, until I could return to the full-time work force. After all, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with what I earned my degrees in, and surely I want to keep working in a related field, right?
But if I’m being honest with myself, I’m having a whole lot of fun learning entirely new things like social media, marketing, branding and the world of freelance work. It was recently time for me to return from maternity leave and go back to teaching world religions at University of Phoenix. I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it. Tim even actually said to me, “I want you to think REALLY hard before you go back to that job. You work REALLY hard for U of P for not very much pay, and honestly, you don’t seem to enjoy it at all.” He was absolutely right. But I was too afraid to admit it. I mean, after you have spent $30,000 on an advanced degree, you’d better put it to near-constant use, right? If I knew then, what I know now, I likely wouldn’t have pursued the degree at all. But that’s water under the bridge, as they say, and I can either let my decision be an anchor onto which I tie myself and sink, or I can remember fondly what I learned, feel proud of what I accomplished, and then cut the emotional cord to it and free myself to pursue what interests me. I’ve done hard things before. I can do them again.
My Current Career Didn’t Really Exist 9 Years Ago
And I can’t beat myself up for not knowing then what I know now, either. While blogs existed back in 2004, I didn’t yet even know what they were. There was no way for me to know that I would one day be interested in professionally pursuing blogging. And 10 years from now, blogs as we now know them won’t even exist anymore, either. It will be something else. Will I be stubbornly holding on to my old-school blog at that point, or will I be willing to take a leap once again and try something new and different? I hope I will be brave, and willing to follow my bliss, rather than simply following the path that my younger self chose for me.
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Beeb Ashcroft says
I had to laugh at the “REALLY expensive framed art” comment! I think you really hit the nail on the head with this. When I started in the journalism field in the late ’90s, I never could have dreamed that I would end up running my own magazine online. I used to make Geocities sites and I also had my own Diaryland in the 90s and early 2000s, and if I had known then what I know now, I would have pursued those full time – but back then, there was pretty much no way to monetize effectively that I was aware of, so like you said, we couldn’t have known. I also totally agree that in 10 years, blogs will probably have evolved into something completely different – the biggest thing I’ve learned is that while my print media experience is a huge plus, I have to marry that with the fact that everything changes CONSTANTLY,which is frustrating for someone who is used to planning editorial calendars way in advance, LOL! These are very uncertain times, but exciting too, since these options didn’t exist 10 years ago. Good for you for seeing the trends and jumping on them! Too many people are held back by what they think they “Should” be doing and I think that can be a huge detriment these days.
Tiffany Merritt says
Thanks for your comment! The world is changing so fast that you really shouldn’t keep a closed mind on what you “should” be doing. I wish I had let go of that idea a little sooner that I have, but really, I’m liberated by no longer limiting my professional aspirations to the fields of higher education and theology. When you open yourself up for new opportunities, you often receive new opportunities!
Tammy says
I’m a frugal person by nature so when my husband (who is ten years older than I am) asked me to marry him, I dropped out of university and got a job – I knew that I wanted to stay home with any kids we might have and didn’t want to have regretted spending the time and money on a degree I wouldn’t use. Fast forward 20 years and I regret a bit that I don’t have a degree hanging on my wall, because now that my daughter is ready to graduate high school next year, I sometimes wish I had it now. Trust me when I say, it’s not just ‘expensive framed art’ you just might use it in the future.
Tiffany Merritt says
Thanks for sharing, Tammy. You are right that it may come in handy down the road. Just because it isn’t the right tool to use in this particular season, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be useful in the future!
Brittney says
I am on the slipside of that. I always thought I would get married have a large family and stay home. None of that happened. I did get married and after many years of fertility we were blessed to get pregnant with twins when I lost one. Thankfully my 6 yr old son was just fine the rest of the pregnancy and then at age 2 he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and is blind in one eye after going through 13 months of chemo at age 2. At the time I was pursuing an accounting degree, I enjoyed accounting but had wanted to go into special education. And I did for about a year but after they closed the school I worked a I went back into accounting. Which I was pursuing through my sons chemo. When it hit me that I didn’t love it anymore, I felt like a trained monkey and before I transferred to a university thought I should rethink the accounting thing. Seeing my son go through his trials and how he always lived life to the fullest made me realize life was to short. So I quite my highpaying accounting job and returned to school for special education. I graduate May 2014. So yeah, if you would have told me 12 years ago when I got married this is how it would have turned out I would have said no way. But I am so grateful for my small family even though it wasn’t what I wanted initially. (I wanted a big family). I know now that everything works out how it should
Tiffany Merritt says
Way to go!!! I love hearing that your son put everything in a whole new light for you, and you pursued a new passion rather than continuing down the path that you previous thought was right but no longer felt right. Good for you!
Gina says
You accomplished something many people would love to have done (including myself) be proud!! Getting a degree in one thing doesn’t limit you to the rest of the world’s opportunities out there!
Tiffany Merritt says
Thanks so much for your sweet comment. I think sometimes it is easy to think that the degree you earn is ONLY good for that one particular field. But in reality, it only limits you if you let it!
Dianna (@oyveyaday) says
There are definitely two sides to a college degree… the learning of information related to your degree, and – well, everything else. There are so many “transferrable skills” that we pick up during our time in school (as others have pointed out in the comments). Every penny you spent was worth it – even if your current job description doesn’t require the SPECIFIC degree that you earned.
Tiffany Merritt says
Very true. Earning a degree does give you a lot of skills that can be applied in many different fields. For example, I got very used to cranking out papers. So writing a blog post every day feels like a walk in the park, especially since I don’t have to cite sources! 🙂
Jen S says
Getting a degree is more than what your diploma says. Just the experience of getting a degree is training for life – stick to something, work ethic. My job is for a company related to my degree, but in a totally different role than I ever imagined. (Actually more related to my first major in college that I LEFT for the one I got, go figure.) For me, college is where I found my best friends and my husband, so a part of life’s journey that would have been totally different without college.
Tiffany Merritt says
SO true! Thanks for sharing!
Jessica @ Coffee and a Cookie says
I know just how you feel! I used to feel terribly guilty for not using my nursing degree after I got married. My family made it worse by telling me I should at least work a little here and there to keep up my specialized skills. When we decided to get married I had applied to graduate school and I was hugely relieved when I didn’t get in to that program…my first clue that it wasn’t really something I wanted to do. I knew then that having a family was more important to me than anything career related, I just never expected to find myself in a financial situation where I wouldn’t have to work at all. Now I just feel really lucky to be able to take care of my kids full time and I don’t care what anybody thinks…my RN license expired more than 3 years ago and it doesn’t bother me at all. I may never go back to nursing, but I’m still proud of what I accomplished in that part of my life. My husband once told me that he didn’t marry me because I was a nurse and it wouldn’t have mattered to him if I even went to college at all. I was kind of insulted at first but then I realized what he was saying. For me, so much of my identity was being a nurse that I didn’t know how else to define myself, but figuring out who I was apart from any career was what really helped me realize what I wanted out of life, not what I thought I should want!
Tiffany Merritt says
This really makes me feel a lot better. I’m so glad you posted this, Jessica! I most definitely do have an identity apart from the degrees I have earned, and it is important to not let those degrees define me!
Hanan says
There are very people I know that actually use their degree. That fact that you studied hard and graduated period is an accomplishment. I agree that you couldn’t have know either that blogging would be a career, I didn’t. I think it’s best to do what is best for you and your family, not because you have a piece of paper that qualifies you for a job. Best of luck to you!!
Tiffany Merritt says
Thanks for your comment. Seriously, it is SO freeing to finally admit that I don’t HAVE to do something directly related to my degree. And the truth is, there are many people out there who change their minds at some point, or life just takes them in a new direction, or in the case of being a blogger, it is a whole new career path that develops and that you decide you want to be part of. Thanks for your encouragement!
Ashley - Embracing Beauty says
Even though you never used your degree for long, you still earned it. That’s a tremendous accomplishment! Bravo on you finding something that works for you even though it was not necessarily what you started off after. That takes a lot of guts!
Tiffany Merritt says
Thanks so much! I remember once that one of my undergrad professors said, “More than anything else, a college degree shows that you can do complex problem solving, meet deadlines and write well. That will take you far.” He was right!
Patty says
You have no idea what life holds in store for you. Later in life that degree could lead to any number of possibilities. I was a VP in banking when life through me one big curve ball and now I’m a goatherd living on a little farm and I’ve never been happier.
Talk about a life change…
As long as you are happy it doesn’t matter. Everything you do in life leads you to the next stage. It is important for one reason or another. Don’t look back – only forward.
Tiffany Merritt says
Love this! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! You never know the path you are supposed to go on, but you’ll likely get lost along the path if you are always looking behind you instead of ahead!
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
Even though you’ve never used your degree and may never use it, stand proud in the fact you earned it! I think it’s absolutely FABULOUS that you have it!!!!!! No regrets on that. Stop that nonsense!
Tiffany Merritt says
Thanks so much! Yes, it definitely was an accomplishment in its own right! Thanks for stopping by!