Yesterday, I wrote about the effort I'm putting into going back to grad school. Where did this come from, I hear you say? Let me point you to my post on how I recently got to take some time between jobs as a reset period. During that reset, I decided it was time to go back to grad school.
It's not like this idea hasn't always been simmering, just there under the surface of the day to day work I do. Anyone who knows me well will not be surprised that I want to return to grad school. Writing and teaching are passions that have never really left, even as my career as a software engineer and manager has taken off. I lacked the nudge I needed to see it through to actually commit myself to the idea and apply.
Before the reset started, I asked myself, "what will I do with myself every day?" So I didn't plan. I got up each day and did what I wanted. As I wrote in the post I linked above, that turned out to be a lot of video games, reading, and writing. And I realized – if left to myself, I always default to books and writing. It was some much needed perspective.
Getting a job at Apple was the highest of highs in my career. Leaving that job at Apple so quickly was the lowest of lows. With my reset period and the perspective it brought, I realized career success is not really something I care that much about. I enjoy writing software. I find satisfaction in my work as a manager, but it's spending time with books, ideas, and creative work that really matters to me. I had lost a bit of that in all the career rat race that last few years.
So I decided: it's time to get back to grad school. If it all comes together, I'm excited about the focused work, the creative environment, and the things that will grow from that. I don't have any plans beyond that, and I couldn't be happier for that new perspective.