judypilot
Cleared for Takeoff
Well, I didn't exactly say that; I'm not that in-your-face (only almost that in-your-face).
I took a flying leap with my career last week. I'm the dean of science at a university around these parts, and it's a tough job. I know it's a tough job, I knew it when I took the job, I'm not afraid of tough jobs. In fact, I'm a challenge junkie.
But for reasons I won't go into, this was just not worth it. As of July 1, I will no longer be dean, "just" a professor again. As I did pretty well when I was "just" a professor, I'm really looking forward to it.
Fortunately for me, I have never defined myself by my title or income. I can take or leave the title, and I never let my lifestyle expand to match my income, so stepping down will be neither a psychological or financial hardship. I will miss the long fund-raising trips I got to do, mostly in my own airplane (meaning the flying was mostly paid for), but oh well.
My friends in my profession (geology) are ecstatic. I can't wait to get back into the field and writing papers again. And teaching. As dean, I don't get enough contact with students.
The stress of trying to do right when I didn't know what the heck was expected of me was getting so intense that it was affecting my health. For the first time in my life, I've used up all my sick leave, and at my age, you can't let that go on too long or the effects will be permanent with consequent loss of medical. No WAY am I going to risk that. In addition, my husband, whose health isn't that great to start with, had a big scare in October. It was one of those events that makes you rethink your priorities and what's important to you. Of course, these kinds of decisions are complex. Suffice it to say that there were a whole bunch other things going on that all pointed in the same direction.
I am thrilled, and as soon as I finish this post, I'm going to look up when the event at Gaston's is. I still haven't been there, and I really want to meet more of the folks from this forum.
Judy
I took a flying leap with my career last week. I'm the dean of science at a university around these parts, and it's a tough job. I know it's a tough job, I knew it when I took the job, I'm not afraid of tough jobs. In fact, I'm a challenge junkie.
But for reasons I won't go into, this was just not worth it. As of July 1, I will no longer be dean, "just" a professor again. As I did pretty well when I was "just" a professor, I'm really looking forward to it.
Fortunately for me, I have never defined myself by my title or income. I can take or leave the title, and I never let my lifestyle expand to match my income, so stepping down will be neither a psychological or financial hardship. I will miss the long fund-raising trips I got to do, mostly in my own airplane (meaning the flying was mostly paid for), but oh well.
My friends in my profession (geology) are ecstatic. I can't wait to get back into the field and writing papers again. And teaching. As dean, I don't get enough contact with students.
The stress of trying to do right when I didn't know what the heck was expected of me was getting so intense that it was affecting my health. For the first time in my life, I've used up all my sick leave, and at my age, you can't let that go on too long or the effects will be permanent with consequent loss of medical. No WAY am I going to risk that. In addition, my husband, whose health isn't that great to start with, had a big scare in October. It was one of those events that makes you rethink your priorities and what's important to you. Of course, these kinds of decisions are complex. Suffice it to say that there were a whole bunch other things going on that all pointed in the same direction.
I am thrilled, and as soon as I finish this post, I'm going to look up when the event at Gaston's is. I still haven't been there, and I really want to meet more of the folks from this forum.
Judy
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