Was talking with a colleague the other day about all of the changes going on in my life, and she said, "Is this your mid-life crisis?" And I thought it just might be. You be the judge!
First of all, I've quit my job. Well, sort of. Teaching in Urbana is awesome in that you can take a year of leave, and then if you or your family decides that you were nutso to quit, you can come back to teaching - they would just stick me somewhere I was qualified to teach. So I've done that, with the intention to (gulp) go back to school for my PhD. My sweet, super-supportive husband is on board, but when I told him I was considering this, I think he asked me if I was sure about 99 times. Having gotten his own degree, I think he was worried that I would either lose my mind or cause him to lose his before I had that Dr. before my name. Fingers crossed that we're still married in five years!
Why in the world would I do this, when I have a job with awesome people, a good salary, plenty of tenure, and a pretty flexible schedule where I can run off when Ethan gets a fever? My 40 year old mid-life crisis might point the way to the answer. But it's also possible that I'm frustrated by the little I know about certain topics in education, and I really love teaching, and I think I could learn enough to someday maybe possibly teach teachers the results of my awe-inspiring, life-changing research.
By the way, another sign of a mid-life crisis is the overuse of hyphens.
So off I go into the world of the Ivory Tower. Following are some of my favorite comments by some of my favorite people, upon their learning of my decision:
1. I think getting a PhD is like the fourth circle of Hell.
2. Four to five years, or more, of back-breaking work. No problem.
3. Girl, you cray cray.
(I can't even pull off #3 in writing, can I?)
And then the ultimate question. "So what do you want to do with your degree?" Oh, yeah, getting a job! Seriously, I did think of this before chucking my really awesome job, and the answer is, "Higher education - maybe?" Knowing full well that I really don't know at all what my life or my family's lives will be like in five years, I'm keeping options open.
Secondly, I've become a health coach. What?! Yes, a health coach. I have a website and everything, but it's not ready so I'm not sharing it quite yet. :) (Not sharing your website with people = Excellent business skills.) I registered with a really fantastic online school last year and I have learned soooooo much! Health coaching isn't designed to replace the nutritionist or dietician, but to provide support for people who want to live a little bit better. There are insurance companies that hire coaches, actually, since doctors can't provide the consistency of support that a weekly or twice-monthly coach can. The downside of the program is that it's taking all of the fun out of some of my favorite foods, but my main objective in doing this is to learn more (and hopefully help others learn more) about how to enjoy food in a healthy and balanced way. No eating anything that isn't delicious! And no fads allowed. It's been kind of fun to think I knew a lot about food and wellness and then to realize how much I really didn't know....wow.
So, Alexis, how in the world will you get a PhD and conduct a health coaching business? The answer is, I probably won't do both equally well. It'd be really nice to supplement my truly meager assistantship with some health coaching clients my first year or two, when I'm doing more coursework than research, but we'll see.
So that should explain a little about why I haven't been blogging since JUNE. Been a little...preoccupied, I should say. But I will do my absolute best to keep the blog updated more regularly so you can all shake your head and wonder about my sanity. Thanks for reading. :)
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