If I had a nickel for every time I had to explain this, I would have probably been able to pay off my student loan debt by now.
*As a disclaimer, I have an extreme amount of respect for working moms. Mommy wars are silly and motherhood comes in all shapes, sizes, and careers. This post is meant as a reflection of my own path towards the search for my identity in my career and in motherhood.*
I was reading a blog about a mom who found her true calling in motherhood. She said that if she had known this prior to being pressured by her parents and society to get her degree, then she would have opted out of school completely and her and her husband would have started a family a lot sooner than they actually did. She deemed that time and money spent in school was a complete waste.
This got me thinking about the 8 years and $50,000 (that we're still paying off by the way) that I spent going to college and then pharmacy school. Was it a complete waste of my time? Should I go back to work in order to justify the value of my education? I had a total identity crisis. I guess for the 3 years that I worked, my career was somewhat the source of my identity. At 23, I was making a six figure salary and pretty much had it going on. Who the heck am I now?
"Oh I'm just a stay at home mom." I found myself saying that when people asked me what I do for a living. Just. Ugh. If only I could remove that word out of my vocabulary. I mean, how does one define this "living" that I'm apparently not making. Am I dead?
Then I realized something. I realized that you know what, I still have it going on. I have a super gorgeous, caring, loving, intelligent, Christ loving husband that provides for our family and I love taking care of him. Together, we have a beautiful, and also incredibly intelligent daughter whom I get to nurse, nurture, educate, and share my day with and not have to miss anything.
Seasons and reasons.
I believe in the different seasons of life. I believe that everything happens for a reason.
The process of getting my degree and the short amount of time that I spent in my career shaped a lot of who I am today.
It absolutely was not a waste of time.
I made life-long friends during those 8 years and their friendship is priceless to me.
I made life-long friends at my old job.
I learned important life lessons while taking care of sick patients.
I learned how to conduct better research.
I learned that my hobbies are valuable and I'm happy when I have time to completely submerse myself in them.
I learned how to manage my finances.
I learned that money doesn't buy happiness.
I stay up to date on the happenings in the healthcare world because I like to be able to have those kinds of discussions with my husband.
If I would have chosen a different path in life, then I may have never met and married the man of my dreams.
We plan on homeschooling our daughter and future children if we stay here in Hawaii. I think the education that I've had the privilege of having gives me the confidence to know that I can, in turn, give them a good education.
A good friend of ours once said this, "Who you are is not as important as whose you are."
It reminds me that I already have my identity, and it lies in Christ.
I'm thankful for the time that I got to work as a pharmacist and help people and it doesn't mean that I won't do it again. But right now, I am so thankful and realize that I am incredibly blessed to have the privilege of being able to stay at home, and raise our daughter. The past 5 months of her life have already gone by so quickly that it frightens me to think about how quickly 5 years will pass...and I don't wanna miss a thing.
And now I shall leave you with this last, and super important reason as to why my degree was not a waste of time: I know the real reasons behind why your prescription takes an hour to fill! Haha just kidding! But I do know, just sayin'.
*As a disclaimer, I have an extreme amount of respect for working moms. Mommy wars are silly and motherhood comes in all shapes, sizes, and careers. This post is meant as a reflection of my own path towards the search for my identity in my career and in motherhood.*
I was reading a blog about a mom who found her true calling in motherhood. She said that if she had known this prior to being pressured by her parents and society to get her degree, then she would have opted out of school completely and her and her husband would have started a family a lot sooner than they actually did. She deemed that time and money spent in school was a complete waste.
This got me thinking about the 8 years and $50,000 (that we're still paying off by the way) that I spent going to college and then pharmacy school. Was it a complete waste of my time? Should I go back to work in order to justify the value of my education? I had a total identity crisis. I guess for the 3 years that I worked, my career was somewhat the source of my identity. At 23, I was making a six figure salary and pretty much had it going on. Who the heck am I now?
"Oh I'm just a stay at home mom." I found myself saying that when people asked me what I do for a living. Just. Ugh. If only I could remove that word out of my vocabulary. I mean, how does one define this "living" that I'm apparently not making. Am I dead?
Then I realized something. I realized that you know what, I still have it going on. I have a super gorgeous, caring, loving, intelligent, Christ loving husband that provides for our family and I love taking care of him. Together, we have a beautiful, and also incredibly intelligent daughter whom I get to nurse, nurture, educate, and share my day with and not have to miss anything.
Seasons and reasons.
I believe in the different seasons of life. I believe that everything happens for a reason.
The process of getting my degree and the short amount of time that I spent in my career shaped a lot of who I am today.
It absolutely was not a waste of time.
I made life-long friends during those 8 years and their friendship is priceless to me.
I made life-long friends at my old job.
I learned important life lessons while taking care of sick patients.
I learned how to conduct better research.
I learned that my hobbies are valuable and I'm happy when I have time to completely submerse myself in them.
I learned how to manage my finances.
I learned that money doesn't buy happiness.
I stay up to date on the happenings in the healthcare world because I like to be able to have those kinds of discussions with my husband.
If I would have chosen a different path in life, then I may have never met and married the man of my dreams.
We plan on homeschooling our daughter and future children if we stay here in Hawaii. I think the education that I've had the privilege of having gives me the confidence to know that I can, in turn, give them a good education.
A good friend of ours once said this, "Who you are is not as important as whose you are."
It reminds me that I already have my identity, and it lies in Christ.
I'm thankful for the time that I got to work as a pharmacist and help people and it doesn't mean that I won't do it again. But right now, I am so thankful and realize that I am incredibly blessed to have the privilege of being able to stay at home, and raise our daughter. The past 5 months of her life have already gone by so quickly that it frightens me to think about how quickly 5 years will pass...and I don't wanna miss a thing.
And now I shall leave you with this last, and super important reason as to why my degree was not a waste of time: I know the real reasons behind why your prescription takes an hour to fill! Haha just kidding! But I do know, just sayin'.
