Today I want to finally share with you what exactly it is we're doing in Florida.
For those of you who are reading this post on the blog itself, my new header should have given you a clue. For those who are reading through email or Reader or what have you, this is my header as of today:
Eric is making a major career change!
First, some background: Eric started his law career in New York in 2008. From the get-go, he was not a fan. It just didn't feel like the right fit for him. As the years wore on, he did not feel any more satisfied. The work neither particularly interested nor challenged him, and he was left feeling like he was not making any sort of positive difference in the world. He liked his firm and was good at the work, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was completely replaceable - he could walk out the door and the firm could very quickly bring in any of hundreds of young lawyers to do the exact same work. The world is full of them.
On top of just not enjoying the work, a life in law requires a huge time commitment. There is no such thing as leaving work at the office and being done when you leave at the end of the day. It is constantly being attached to your Blackberry, ready to work as soon as an email comes in. It's conference calls while on vacation. It's long hours and weekends. It's business trips to India at the drop of a hat, regardless of whatever plans you already had in place. To be successful, you have to be available, always. There is no such thing as being fully off, ever. And frankly, Eric had it better than most - in the first place, the hours expectations at his Minneapolis-based firm were better than similar big firms based in New York. In addition, Eric started his law career as the economy tanked (his first day was actually the same day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy), resulting in far less work for young corporate lawyers than there otherwise would have been. That meant that by comparison to what it should have been, Eric's hours were fairly light and flexible. Yet somehow it still required so much of his time - far too much time for a job he never even enjoyed, if you ask me.
For years we discussed exit strategies. We felt trapped, because we both are saddled with student loan debt. Eric's law school loans seemed particularly insurmountable, even with the aggressive monthly payments we were making. We weren't afraid to give up the lawyer income generally, but we just didn't know how we would ever handle our student loan debt on anything less. We felt like our options were very limited.
But still, we talked about it. Eric was clearly unhappy and I knew that in time, that would probably take a toll on our happiness as a family. Plus, when we started a family, we both really wanted him to be around more. So we decided to talk it out, come up with an idea, and then figure out how we could possibly make it work.
We toyed with a few ideas that involved staying in law but changing our circumstances. Eric interviewed for a couple of law jobs in Tampa, thinking that closer proximity to family and more regular golf opportunities might do the trick, but that ultimately wasn't the right fit. He also interviewed with a large firm in London, and frankly, we might have tried that one if only it hadn't come up right when we found out I was pregnant! We immediately started talking about the upcoming London Olympics, weekend excursions around Europe, Christmas in Paris. But, moving out of the country with the new baby would have just been too cruel to our poor family. So we continued the search.
In 2011, Eric had the idea to apply for Teach for America, an organization that places people with diverse backgrounds as teachers in under-performing schools. A degree in education is not necessary, as they will train you and help with certification, and the various backgrounds of their teachers are intended to bring something new and fresh to the field of education. It is a highly competitive program, but hey, Eric's pretty good at getting into highly competitive things (he's awesome, in case I haven't mentioned that). We did a little figuring and realized that through a combination of income-based repayment and Public Interest Loan Forgiveness, if Eric was able to become a teacher through Teach for America, we could probably handle our loan payments and even be rid of most of them before Ellie goes to college. At last - something that sounded interesting, fulfilling, and wouldn't leave us destitute and living out of a cardboard box while the Loan Peoples took all our money!
So Eric applied to Teach for America in the fall of 2011 and went through the full interview process. We found out in November that he was accepted and assigned to teach high school math in Jacksonville. We were thrilled and decided to go for it, and started making plans to move to Florida in June of 2012, where Ellie and I would stay while Eric attended training in Chicago for the summer. Then we would all meet in Jacksonville for him to start teaching in the fall.
However, when Ellie actually arrived, all that changed. It would have been too much to move so quickly with such a young baby, and Eric hated the idea of missing almost all of Ellie's first summer. We just felt that a career change, a cross-country move and a new baby seemed like an awful lot to take on in one year. So, we decided to defer Eric's Teach for America acceptance until this year.
And that is what we're doing now. We are in St. Petersburg for the time being, where we are enjoying time with our family before really starting our next step in earnest. Eric has decided to take a seasonal job as an office manager with H&R Block, but after tax season, we will have almost two months to just enjoy Florida and each other before he really starts his Teach for America adventure. In June, he will go to Jacksonville for Institute, where they will teach him what he needs to know and he will interview for positions at Duval County Schools. Ellie and I will stay in St. Petersburg while he does that, and then we will all finally get to Jacksonville together at the end of the summer. The hope is to find a nice house to rent and make Jacksonville our new home.
We are so very excited about this opportunity. At last, Eric will have a job that he can feel positive about, something he hopes will give his professional life a sense of purpose and a feeling that he is making a difference in the lives of others. It will be challenging and exciting. Of course, we expect it to be incredibly difficult, but I can very easily see Eric excelling at such a challenge. I think he will be really, really good at this.
The Teach for America program is a two-year commitment. Our plan is to focus on nothing but teaching high school math in Jacksonville for those two years. After those years are up, we will assess where we are and where we want to be. Perhaps (hopefully?) it will all just be a perfect fit, and Eric can stay on and keep teaching and we can buy a house and put down actual roots in Jacksonville. If it seems like there are other options which are a better fit for him, we feel that through Teach for America and with his law background, Eric will have the ability to pursue those opportunities, which we believe will still involve a career in education. But for now, teaching is the focus.
As for me and what I will do, my goal is to continue to stay home with Ellie, while still taking on jury subcontractor work whenever it comes in. That is something I can do from home and is a great source of additional income doing work that I enjoy on my own schedule. However, we do recognize that our financial situation is changing and I may not be able to continue to be a stay at home mom. We plan to do all that we can to keep that as it is, but we'll just have to play it by ear. I'm open to doing whatever is ultimately best for our family.
To be clear, we have no regrets about law. Eric and I were fortunate enough to attend law/graduate school in Washington, D.C., which was another city we loved very much and we had some fantastic experiences there. After graduation, it was law that brought us to New York and gave us the ability to live such an incredible life in the city. Although law did not turn out to be for him, Eric is grateful for the relationships he developed in school and at the firm and we are both very grateful for the opportunities and experiences we have enjoyed over the course of the past seven years.
This is all going to be a big adjustment for sure. But I am excited to work to make Jacksonville our home, to get used to our new way of life, and to try out this new career. I think it's really going to be good for us. I look forward to Eric's improved schedule, hopefully improved mood and sense of fulfillment, and even more time together as a family. I look forward to settling in to suburbia, and to being closer to our family for more frequent visits. I think it is really going to be good and I so admire Eric for bravely taking on this challenge in order to better the lives of others, pursue personal fulfillment and secure a work-life balance that will enable him to be the present husband and father that he wants to be. He is an incredible man.
So that, my friends, is what we are doing. That is why we said goodbye to my beloved New York, and why we are currently setting up camp in the Sunshine State. I still haven't figured out exactly what I'm going to do about this blog, because even though Eric is still admitted to the bar in New York and will probably hang on to his license, "My Life As A Lawyer's Wife" isn't exactly accurate anymore. Not in the spirit of the law, anyway. So that is something to figure out in time. For now, the blog will reflect where we are at this moment: in transition. It is no longer about our adventures in the Big Apple, but is now about making the move from New York to Florida, from lawyer to teacher. It's more about family and less about celebrities. It is about redefining ourselves and figuring out who we really are under these new circumstances. And so far? We are one happy family who is really excited about this new adventure.
I hope you'll stick with me as we go through this big transition. It may not be as glamorous as life in New York, but it sure is going to be exciting!
For those of you who are reading this post on the blog itself, my new header should have given you a clue. For those who are reading through email or Reader or what have you, this is my header as of today:
Eric is making a major career change!
First, some background: Eric started his law career in New York in 2008. From the get-go, he was not a fan. It just didn't feel like the right fit for him. As the years wore on, he did not feel any more satisfied. The work neither particularly interested nor challenged him, and he was left feeling like he was not making any sort of positive difference in the world. He liked his firm and was good at the work, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was completely replaceable - he could walk out the door and the firm could very quickly bring in any of hundreds of young lawyers to do the exact same work. The world is full of them.
On top of just not enjoying the work, a life in law requires a huge time commitment. There is no such thing as leaving work at the office and being done when you leave at the end of the day. It is constantly being attached to your Blackberry, ready to work as soon as an email comes in. It's conference calls while on vacation. It's long hours and weekends. It's business trips to India at the drop of a hat, regardless of whatever plans you already had in place. To be successful, you have to be available, always. There is no such thing as being fully off, ever. And frankly, Eric had it better than most - in the first place, the hours expectations at his Minneapolis-based firm were better than similar big firms based in New York. In addition, Eric started his law career as the economy tanked (his first day was actually the same day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy), resulting in far less work for young corporate lawyers than there otherwise would have been. That meant that by comparison to what it should have been, Eric's hours were fairly light and flexible. Yet somehow it still required so much of his time - far too much time for a job he never even enjoyed, if you ask me.
For years we discussed exit strategies. We felt trapped, because we both are saddled with student loan debt. Eric's law school loans seemed particularly insurmountable, even with the aggressive monthly payments we were making. We weren't afraid to give up the lawyer income generally, but we just didn't know how we would ever handle our student loan debt on anything less. We felt like our options were very limited.
But still, we talked about it. Eric was clearly unhappy and I knew that in time, that would probably take a toll on our happiness as a family. Plus, when we started a family, we both really wanted him to be around more. So we decided to talk it out, come up with an idea, and then figure out how we could possibly make it work.
We toyed with a few ideas that involved staying in law but changing our circumstances. Eric interviewed for a couple of law jobs in Tampa, thinking that closer proximity to family and more regular golf opportunities might do the trick, but that ultimately wasn't the right fit. He also interviewed with a large firm in London, and frankly, we might have tried that one if only it hadn't come up right when we found out I was pregnant! We immediately started talking about the upcoming London Olympics, weekend excursions around Europe, Christmas in Paris. But, moving out of the country with the new baby would have just been too cruel to our poor family. So we continued the search.
In 2011, Eric had the idea to apply for Teach for America, an organization that places people with diverse backgrounds as teachers in under-performing schools. A degree in education is not necessary, as they will train you and help with certification, and the various backgrounds of their teachers are intended to bring something new and fresh to the field of education. It is a highly competitive program, but hey, Eric's pretty good at getting into highly competitive things (he's awesome, in case I haven't mentioned that). We did a little figuring and realized that through a combination of income-based repayment and Public Interest Loan Forgiveness, if Eric was able to become a teacher through Teach for America, we could probably handle our loan payments and even be rid of most of them before Ellie goes to college. At last - something that sounded interesting, fulfilling, and wouldn't leave us destitute and living out of a cardboard box while the Loan Peoples took all our money!
So Eric applied to Teach for America in the fall of 2011 and went through the full interview process. We found out in November that he was accepted and assigned to teach high school math in Jacksonville. We were thrilled and decided to go for it, and started making plans to move to Florida in June of 2012, where Ellie and I would stay while Eric attended training in Chicago for the summer. Then we would all meet in Jacksonville for him to start teaching in the fall.
However, when Ellie actually arrived, all that changed. It would have been too much to move so quickly with such a young baby, and Eric hated the idea of missing almost all of Ellie's first summer. We just felt that a career change, a cross-country move and a new baby seemed like an awful lot to take on in one year. So, we decided to defer Eric's Teach for America acceptance until this year.
And that is what we're doing now. We are in St. Petersburg for the time being, where we are enjoying time with our family before really starting our next step in earnest. Eric has decided to take a seasonal job as an office manager with H&R Block, but after tax season, we will have almost two months to just enjoy Florida and each other before he really starts his Teach for America adventure. In June, he will go to Jacksonville for Institute, where they will teach him what he needs to know and he will interview for positions at Duval County Schools. Ellie and I will stay in St. Petersburg while he does that, and then we will all finally get to Jacksonville together at the end of the summer. The hope is to find a nice house to rent and make Jacksonville our new home.
We are so very excited about this opportunity. At last, Eric will have a job that he can feel positive about, something he hopes will give his professional life a sense of purpose and a feeling that he is making a difference in the lives of others. It will be challenging and exciting. Of course, we expect it to be incredibly difficult, but I can very easily see Eric excelling at such a challenge. I think he will be really, really good at this.
The Teach for America program is a two-year commitment. Our plan is to focus on nothing but teaching high school math in Jacksonville for those two years. After those years are up, we will assess where we are and where we want to be. Perhaps (hopefully?) it will all just be a perfect fit, and Eric can stay on and keep teaching and we can buy a house and put down actual roots in Jacksonville. If it seems like there are other options which are a better fit for him, we feel that through Teach for America and with his law background, Eric will have the ability to pursue those opportunities, which we believe will still involve a career in education. But for now, teaching is the focus.
As for me and what I will do, my goal is to continue to stay home with Ellie, while still taking on jury subcontractor work whenever it comes in. That is something I can do from home and is a great source of additional income doing work that I enjoy on my own schedule. However, we do recognize that our financial situation is changing and I may not be able to continue to be a stay at home mom. We plan to do all that we can to keep that as it is, but we'll just have to play it by ear. I'm open to doing whatever is ultimately best for our family.
To be clear, we have no regrets about law. Eric and I were fortunate enough to attend law/graduate school in Washington, D.C., which was another city we loved very much and we had some fantastic experiences there. After graduation, it was law that brought us to New York and gave us the ability to live such an incredible life in the city. Although law did not turn out to be for him, Eric is grateful for the relationships he developed in school and at the firm and we are both very grateful for the opportunities and experiences we have enjoyed over the course of the past seven years.
This is all going to be a big adjustment for sure. But I am excited to work to make Jacksonville our home, to get used to our new way of life, and to try out this new career. I think it's really going to be good for us. I look forward to Eric's improved schedule, hopefully improved mood and sense of fulfillment, and even more time together as a family. I look forward to settling in to suburbia, and to being closer to our family for more frequent visits. I think it is really going to be good and I so admire Eric for bravely taking on this challenge in order to better the lives of others, pursue personal fulfillment and secure a work-life balance that will enable him to be the present husband and father that he wants to be. He is an incredible man.
So that, my friends, is what we are doing. That is why we said goodbye to my beloved New York, and why we are currently setting up camp in the Sunshine State. I still haven't figured out exactly what I'm going to do about this blog, because even though Eric is still admitted to the bar in New York and will probably hang on to his license, "My Life As A Lawyer's Wife" isn't exactly accurate anymore. Not in the spirit of the law, anyway. So that is something to figure out in time. For now, the blog will reflect where we are at this moment: in transition. It is no longer about our adventures in the Big Apple, but is now about making the move from New York to Florida, from lawyer to teacher. It's more about family and less about celebrities. It is about redefining ourselves and figuring out who we really are under these new circumstances. And so far? We are one happy family who is really excited about this new adventure.
I hope you'll stick with me as we go through this big transition. It may not be as glamorous as life in New York, but it sure is going to be exciting!
5 comments:
I am so glad that Eric can attack a new challenge and do something that will hopefully make him happy in his work life. As such a people person, I can see his students really enjoying the interaction with him. I pray that this step is all you and I think it can be for your fabulous family.
Now Eric, about those questions. Are your students ready for those?
This is some fantastic news, so excited for Eric with his career change! My sister has a few friends that have been in Teach for America and they love it :-)
Hoping he will as well and wishing him luck!
Glad to hear Eric will be doing something he will enjoy (I hope!) and you all could move closer to family. We (almost) moved to Jax before Jason was accepted to Stetson and we were able to stay here. Isn't it funny how things generally work out?
Congratulations! That is so awesome! When I was in AmeriCorps, there were several Teach for America teachers at our school and their positive attitudes and motivation to make a difference really inspired the kids. I hope that Eric enjoys his time with the program and that it brings you guys the balance you've been wanting in your life as a family.
Wow! This is such amazing news, congrats!! I'm so excited for what's to come for Eric and your family. Y'all deserve nothing but happiness and I truly hope that this is the perfect fit! I can't wait to hear more about it!!
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