Why I’m Working in Higher Ed Again
It’s a Passion Play
Those who work in higher education know that we are prone to burn out. Does not matter if you are a faculty member or an administrator, the hours are long, the pressure to perform is intense and working with students ensures that no two days will ever be the same. Dedicated professionals will give their all, give more than they have, and possibly give until they can’t give anymore.
That’s how it ended up for me. I don’t see it as a good thing, and it almost destroyed my career. I convinced myself that in order to do the job and to be there for my students, I needed to work 80-hour weeks, push myself to do more than humanly possible, and do so at the cost of my health and personal life. I had become a shell of myself and it was starting to show on all fronts. The only thing I could think of to change my situation was to cut bait on my 12-year higher education career and find something else to do. Any that’s what I did.
Two and a half years later, I’m back in higher education, and here’s why:
1: Working for educational agencies that focus on Higher Education DOES NOT EQUAL working in Higher Education
There’s an ideological shift that one has to make when leaving higher education for the private sector. You go from measuring your progress through outcomes and assessments, strategic plan progress and fulfilling the institution’s mission to staying in the black and padding the bottom line, fulfilling the scope of work and billing for extra time. It did not matter that I was helping schools, and therefore indirectly helping students, the constant need to be selling, up selling and finding new ways to make money was not for me.
2: The grass IS NOT ALWAYS greener on the other side
My 12 years in higher education were filled with amazing bosses and mentors that aided, encouraged and pushed me to grow as a professional. I learned so much from the people I worked for and with at each of my prior institutions, as well as grad school, and although I knew this was the case, I just didn’t realize that by leaving, I may find myself in a situation where that would not exactly happen anymore. In my time away from higher education I have had some interesting experiences, and although I learned a lot from some amazing people, I also had some petty, miserable, entitled, tyrannical and selfish bosses. They are experiences, now that they are in the rearview mirror, I am glad I had, but do not want to have again.
3: One word — BENEFITS
I know this seems pretty petty, but when it comes down to your physical and psychological health, benefits are key to keeping you healthy and sharp when the, umm, well, when it hits the fan. I didn’t think it would matter, but it did. Working in the private sector yielded me seven federal holidays off a year, no more than 15 vacation, sick and personal days (combined) and high cost, low coverage health and dental insurance. My hours were not much different, my pay was about the same, but I took a big hit in time off, health insurance coverage and retirement plan options. I won’t go into what kind of benefits I have now that I am back in higher education, but believe me, it affords for a much better work-life balance.
4: Do what you love and you’ll NEVER WORK A DAY in your life
I’m not sure I buy into this 100%, as all jobs have their crappy days that feel like work, but comparatively, the last two and half years felt like they contained more bad days than the 12 years prior. I know that’s not the case but when you do what you love, bad days are easily rationalized away, and when you don’t love what you do… well, bad days build up, wear you down and make it hard to wake up in the morning. The past month and a half have been amazing — I know, honeymoon phase — but I wake up excited to go to the office. Can’t ask for more than that.
5: Time away gave me a BETTER PERSPECTIVE on who I am and what I should be doing
I’m back for all the right reasons. I want to make an impact on people’s lives, not just ensure the ledger is in the black. I want to help people become better versions of themselves and help their families, not help companies sell products. I want to help develop a staff of young people into caring and passionate higher education professionals, not constantly battle with people who only care about the way they’ve always done things. I’m back because student success is important to me as well as my professional goals, and I truly believe I will make a difference.
So to sum up this exercise, time away allowed me to appreciate what I had, re-center myself and realize that I’m in it because I’m passionate about it. I’m an educator at heart and I somehow convinced myself that I’d be happy doing something else… I was wrong. I’m happy to be back and this time, I’m pretty sure I’m back for good.
