I regret not having tried harder in school, I probably wouldn't have struggled for as long as I did had I put one hundred percent into my studies. If you don't go that route, it feels like you have to play catch up later in life. I look at my cousin who put every waking hour into studying and getting ahead academically. She is graduating from UCLA, she went straight through undergrad to med school and it will pay off for her at this point. She will have a job with flexible hours, probably some on call hours, but as a psychiatrist, you can start your own practice or go the hospital route. Either way she put the time in first and it is paying off now.
I did not do that, as discussed here previously, I struggled to find my place in the working world for years. I am to the point where I am very comfortable now and have been for some time. But it takes its toll. I don't get to spend the time with my son that I would like, I work not because I am passionate about what I do, but because this modern life seems to require two incomes just to stay above water.
My husband was recently promoted, another trade off. I am home at night alone now a lot of the time feeling what life is like as a single parent. I know I can't really complain as I have been fortunate until now to have my husband's help. I know plenty of people whose husbands are gone for weeks at a time. Does it have to be that way though? What is it about our society that determines that we must put so much of our time into work at the expense of our families. Ah well, here's to hoping it gets easier.
