Hope everyone had a Happy Leap Day!

30 Rock promotes Leap Day in their latest episode as a day to do something you normally wouldn’t do.  As they say, “real life in for March!”

So what did I do this Leap Year?  Why thank you for asking.

I made a life change.

(look at me going Oprah on you!)

I’m leaving my job and (finally) starting grad school this summer.

Yeah yeah, I know.  I’ve been talking about going back to school forever – basically since the moment I left college 10 years ago.  Why haven’t I gone back before now?  A number of reasons  excuses.  Mainly fear of  1) leaving a real income to go back to a student’s “income” and 2) not knowing if I would be happier doing something else.

I’ve been working with a Finance degree since college, doing all different types of administrative work.  HR, Operations, and Finance.  That’s the world I’ve been living in, with little passion for the work.   Why did I stay?  Well, I kinda just chalked up my lack of interest to the idea that no job is THAT much fun.  That all work, at some point, becomes routine and boring.  And work is work, you’re going to have bad days and not be happy all the time.  But what I was experiencing in my career was a complete disconnect.  I found my passion in the organizations I was working for – their mission and vision – more than the actually tasks I was performing.

Anyhow…

I spoke to my boss, who has been extremely supportive and encouraging, and just annouced my departure to the staff today.  I’ll stay around to hire on my successor and train them – so we’re looking at at least a month or more.  And then?  Well, I’m not entirely sure.

I haven’t been accepted into a Masters program yet, mainly because I haven’t taken my GRE and therefore can’t complete my application.  However, I can still enroll in classes as a non-degree seeking student while I am in the process of applying to the program.  So I’ll begin Summer classes in June.

My next steps are to:

1.  Study for the GRE and take the exam

2. Finish my application

3. Apply for summer classes

4. Find a job

I’m a little unsure what to do for a job.  I need to figure out if I will work full-time or part-time.  Ideally I would work part-time, but I don’t know if that will be financially feasible.  I know that I want a job that is relatively stress-free;  I work hard while I’m there, but then leave the job behind once I clock out.  I don’t want a lot of responsiblity, as I need to be able to focus on my classes.  Maybe I’ll do temp work for awhile?  I’m also very interested in bartending – I’m going to look up some bartending classes in the Orlando area.  I don’t have any restaurant experience so taking the class is a must.

As for my program of study, I’m applying for a Masters in School Counseling.  My favorite positions in the past have been working in charter schools; I love working with students.  I thought for awhile about teaching, but I’m more interested in working with students on a one-on-one basis, or small group.  Plus, I love psychology.  I really feel like this is a good fit for me.  Which is great feeling, as I’ve not experienced being in a position where I really felt successful and had passion for the work.

I’m headed in the right direction.  There have been a lot of starts and stops in this process – a lot of procrastination on my part – but now that I’m almost out of job, I feel like this creates just enough stress to light a fire under me and get myself in gear.

And looky there, it just became March – real life time!