I never thought in my natural life that I would be sharing this on such a public forum, but hey, here goes.
I quit my job. Resigned. Bounced. Said later to the anxiety, the abusive relationship I had with my supervisors, and the psychosomatic symptoms I had been experiencing for months. Heart racing. Being disturbed in the middle of my evening and weekends at the thought of going back into the office. Stomach in knots. Sense of dread every time I saw an email from my supervisors, anticipating what kind of psychological warfare I was in store for next.
Maybe this is a cliched saying, but life really is too short.
Knowing When To Walk Away
Some people say quitters never win. And that ain’t always the truth. I decided that I was fighting an uphill battle that wasn’t worth being fought anymore.
I wasn’t crazy about the work I was doing, and due to a situation that I was involved in that I won’t fully go into, I also felt like I couldn’t stand behind the quality of work that was being produced, no matter how “pretty” it looked. I wasn’t growing, learning, or being nurtured professionally, and whatever collaborative environment was mentioned during my job interview surely didn’t actually exist.
Add all of this to actual workplace bullying by my supervisors. Yes, actual threats to ruin my entire career.
All I was left with was: That’s it. You win. I leave. Surely, there are better opportunities and more supportive environments out here where I can shine and do fulfilling work.
This is a very “nice” account of how I feel about leaving a toxic work environment. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about workplace bullying and reading about some of these dynamics, which I absolutely experienced, make me no less than incensed. No one should have to go through anything like this for the sake of your career.
Master Teacher in the Making
I moved on to a role where I felt like I can learn and grow and master one of my self-defined life skills – the art of teaching.
I’m a professor. I am teaching introductory psychology courses at a community college. I taught a few psychology courses to earn my keep as a grad student, but this time I’m stepping in the role of teaching fully owning it. THIS is what I do. And I’m here to do it well. I am up to my ears in creating lectures, finding videos to illustrate psychological concepts and theories, thinking of thought-provoking questions to ask to my class. And I’m enjoying the work I’m doing.
I want to bring to the classroom the same qualities I’m striving to offer in my role of grad school admissions coach: education, leadership, turning on the curiosity and bringing out brilliance, and modeling how to be the best YOU by making sense of the puzzle pieces of your life and fitting them all into a frame that works.
