Loved this! Thank you for sharing your journey. I'm still tangled in academia's web but glance longingly over the fence to the other side on the regular and, as a chronically ill person, brace myself daily for the very real possibility that my employer will one day lock me out of the ivory tower completely - you know how we like to devour our weak in academia and I've been sick for longer than they can stand. I appreciate the insight from someone who took the leap. Thank you!!
I'm so glad this resonated! I remember standing where you are, gazing over that fence. (Funny how so many do the same into the life of the academy, no? The grass isn't always greener, though I'm grateful that mine generally stays watered and bright, it's more that it's just different. But I haven't looked back!)
I'm sending you good healing vibes as you deal with your illness, and rooting for you as you ponder and prepare for that possibility.
Hi! I am on a similar journey but potentially in a different direction. I worked in big tech as a user experience researcher for 8 years and then a year and a half ago I quit to teach at a university in the city where I live (San Francisco). I didn't go to grad school myself but I teach in a one-year master's of interaction design program. I enjoy it. I am in the early stages of figuring out what I want the next chapter of my portfolio career to look like. I enjoy adjuncting but don't make enough $ from it to do only this for the rest of my career. I am also an extrovert and love in-person events. I started following you via Culture Study conversations about stepparenting (another facet of my life that often feels quite lonely). I just got off a call with someone in Philly who I think was at the same conference. Small world!
Aw, Leslie, so nice to connect here! Please let me know if I can ever be a resource, or if you want to connect elsewhere to further chat about any of these issues!
I'd love to connect! I've been with my partner for 7.5 years, so I've been living in these questions for a long time, but I don't know many women in my IRL life who are in similar situations. Also your writing inspired me to do more of my own. Stay tuned for more on this platform in the not-too-distant future!
Loved this! Thank you for sharing your journey. I'm still tangled in academia's web but glance longingly over the fence to the other side on the regular and, as a chronically ill person, brace myself daily for the very real possibility that my employer will one day lock me out of the ivory tower completely - you know how we like to devour our weak in academia and I've been sick for longer than they can stand. I appreciate the insight from someone who took the leap. Thank you!!
I'm so glad this resonated! I remember standing where you are, gazing over that fence. (Funny how so many do the same into the life of the academy, no? The grass isn't always greener, though I'm grateful that mine generally stays watered and bright, it's more that it's just different. But I haven't looked back!)
I'm sending you good healing vibes as you deal with your illness, and rooting for you as you ponder and prepare for that possibility.
Hi! I am on a similar journey but potentially in a different direction. I worked in big tech as a user experience researcher for 8 years and then a year and a half ago I quit to teach at a university in the city where I live (San Francisco). I didn't go to grad school myself but I teach in a one-year master's of interaction design program. I enjoy it. I am in the early stages of figuring out what I want the next chapter of my portfolio career to look like. I enjoy adjuncting but don't make enough $ from it to do only this for the rest of my career. I am also an extrovert and love in-person events. I started following you via Culture Study conversations about stepparenting (another facet of my life that often feels quite lonely). I just got off a call with someone in Philly who I think was at the same conference. Small world!
Aw, Leslie, so nice to connect here! Please let me know if I can ever be a resource, or if you want to connect elsewhere to further chat about any of these issues!
I'd love to connect! I've been with my partner for 7.5 years, so I've been living in these questions for a long time, but I don't know many women in my IRL life who are in similar situations. Also your writing inspired me to do more of my own. Stay tuned for more on this platform in the not-too-distant future!