Quittin' Time

If you ever want to quit a job at a really inopportune moment, find a way to work in African babies.*  Seriously, you go from traitorous abandon-er to Mother Theresa in three seconds flat.

The scene:

• My boss left two months ago, position not even posted
• My colleague left three months ago
• My remaining senior-most colleague, quit just that week
• I was promoted mere months earlier, and mid-way through an all-consuming, multi-faceted campaign on which I was the only staff member
• The two remaining team members were both here less than three months

No easy way out, huh?  Enter African babies.  When I told my new supervisor that I was leaving to work at a school for former child soldiers, she actually congratulated me.  Said she admired me.  Uh, what?  That was not the response I was expecting.  Quitting my job turned out to be the easiest "going to Africa" conversation I had to have -- although it was the one that had most frightened me.

The decision to leave my job -- one that I sincerely enjoyed -- and head out to Africa was a very difficult one.  But the day I quit was the day this whole plan became real.  Never mind when I interviewed for the jobs, told my friends and family....it became real the day I took a irreversible step and quit.  Five years, lots of great opportunities, but it was time to move on.

As I sit here, just days from heading off to Africa on the trip I have dreamed about (and bored friends speculating about) for years.  I feel a mix of excitement, nostalgia and a hint of fear.  Maybe it was foolish to leave a good job and a happy life.  Maybe I will come home and end up a waitress in the local Denny's.  

But no matter what, this was the right step for me at the right time.  Carpe diem, right?   Or at least that is what I keep telling myself....

* credit to Emily Lemiska for helping me identify my opening line -- a far better writer than myself and an absolute pleasure to work with!