Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash

I Left My First Career at 27, Here’s What I’ve Learned After Starting Over

Simple is better than sexy, fend for yourself first, be pragmatic about your ambitions

Sometimes I wonder if I was scared.

I left my career in June of 2017. A week after my son turned 2 years old.

I think about that time a lot.

I think about my dreams, my goals, my ambitions.

I think about my naivete, my blindness, my ill-preparedness.

I don’t like to look at things as black or white. My decision was neither bad nor good, white or black.

It falls somewhere in the grey.

I’ve learned a lot in these past 3 years, and I still have a lot more to learn.

Here’s my best attempt, in no particular order, to compile what I’ve learned about what it’s like to start your career over at 27.

Fend for yourself first

I was only 5 weeks into my career and excited about what was ahead.

Here I was, fresh out of college and 5 weeks into full-time employment at an iconic Pittsburgh business. I couldn’t ask for anything more.