Spouse careers

[Vishenka69]

Kris, I think it's totally doable. There was a woman in DH's med school class who went to med school after sending her youngest to college. I believe she was in her early 40s at the time. Now she's a practicing anesthesiologist and very happy with her choice.

I wish I had your drive and persistence. I can't even bother to retake GRE.

[bokelley]

Kris, I think it's totally doable. There was a woman in DH's med school class who went to med school after sending her youngest to college. I believe she was in her early 40s at the time. Now she's a practicing anesthesiologist and very happy with her choice.

I wish I had your drive and persistence. I can't even bother to retake GRE.

(SHUTTER) Don't bring up the GRE, it brings back horrible memories of all night studying....

[NYCHoosier]

Over the last year or so I have gone back to take some refresher classes in the sciences. I'm planning on sitting the MCAT this year or next <boo hiss, I know>. Of course, since I have 5 kiddos and life is kicking my behind lately, I might still be having the conversation with myself about what I'm going to do with my life in 10 years. But...for now...I'll just keep on plowing ahead. I'd like to apply to med school or pa school. We'll see.

Kris

Oh that's awesome!!

I have my BA in Entertainment Business, am 2 electives away from my AAS in Fashion Merchandising and am planning on taking the LSAT in February. Once we find out where DH matches, I'll apply for law schools in that area. I'm hoping to stay in New York, where there are 4 top tier schools spread out over the top tier, or in Chicago, where I ultimately want to settle down but only has 2 top tier schools, both in the top 10. I would love to practice at my current firm (that has offices in NY, Chicago, DC and a bunch of other cities we're not considering) but to have a chance I have to get into a good school... and if I get into a second tier school, I have to be a stand-out. We'll see. Just focusing on the LSAT for now. If I get a perfect score that should take some pressure off, right? haha.

Anyway, my advice as someone who hasn't moved in the past 7 years... is choose your career based on what you want your career to be. I did the fashion thing because I thought it interesting, thought I would bring something to the table that most don't (I was right - I definitely have a better mind for numbers and an awareness of mainstream taste that most of my classmates do not), and I thought I could do it many different places. However, a month or two after I started the program, most of the major retailers closed their regional offices. My "worst case scenario" idea of working as a manager of a retail store has turned into the most likely scenario if we live anywhere on our list other than NYC. I'm not that passionate about fashion. I realized that when I went to Chicago and wanted to work at my firm's Chicago office after my visit. Uhh...

So yes. Do what you like and in the words of Tim Gunn, make it work! In a career you care about, crazy commuting, telecommuting or even living separately for a temporary period of time will be worth it. I think those are the type of sacrifices that can be expected.

Yikes - Sorry I'm so long-winded!!

[medpedspouse]

Kris, I think it's totally doable. There was a woman in DH's med school class who went to med school after sending her youngest to college. I believe she was in her early 40s at the time. Now she's a practicing anesthesiologist and very happy with her choice.

I wish I had your drive and persistence. I can't even bother to retake GRE.

Kris - there was also a woman who went to med school after her son finished residency! She is on her 4th yr now.

[mommax3]

I'm a music teacher, licensed K-12, but my public school experience has all been with middle school. I taught for five years pre-kids, and am starting my 4th year of work post-kids, at a part-time job (5/7 if you want to be technical).
During the 11 years I was home, I worked in my field almost the whole time, giving private lessons, working as a worship assistant at my church, and even spent a year teaching 3rd grade, part time.

I don't really have any big desire for a career and never did. I have taken 12 hours of master's level courses, (required to keep/renew my license) but don't plan on getting my master's degree. The only reason I am working now is for my sanity (and that is in question most days anyway). I think I will always need to have my "own" thing to do as long as DH is working....I don't know if it will always be teaching, but as long as my kids are school-aged, it is a really good fit.