Rather big changes of a job and life related nature...

So I just unofficially quit my job... (in an "I told my boss I was going to be handing in my three months notice in a couple of weeks") type of way. Starting in September I'm returning to the land of studentdom and studying for a Masters. The official title of the course is MSc Architecture : Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies, but it's basically sustainable building with a renewable energy focus. It's at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales, and the course runs as a five day residential block at CAT every month, then the rest of study is done from home, so I can stay in Bristol. Woo! I'm particularly excited about the bit where I get to build a straw bale house :o) It's a really alternative and practical course, and just feels like the right course for me.

If you're having a "what on earth?!" type of response to this information, don't worry, so am I... I haven't been keeping big secrets from everyone - more a case that I only decided to do this a couple of weeks ago. I've been vaguely thinking about it for a while - I strongly considered it a year or so ago, getting so far as to bookmark some courses before convincing myself that the timing was bad and I'd be better off waiting. Well, the timing hasn't really got any better, but neither has my current job. Now, I don't hate my job by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't find it fulfilling either, and the dreamer/idealist part of me craves a career that I really care about. A moment of clarity happened about 3 weeks ago - my job isn't going to miraculously improve, and a dream career isn't going to magically appear and fall at my feet. If I want to do something else, I need to do something about it. I feel like I gave my current career a good chance, and it just isn't what I want to do, so now seems the time to change - I have no morgage, no responsibilities like kids, so I've just gone for it. Within a 2 week period, I found the course I wanted to do, applied, got a place and told my work I'm leaving. Speedy...

To be honest, it all feels weird. Not quite real. I guess that's the thing about making decisions that aren't really going to come into effect for another 3 1/2 months. But it's exciting - I mean, I'm finally doing what I've been dreaming about for years and the thing that I'm passionate about. And that's such a great feeling - I feel... alive! I have no idea what the future holds, but I'm excited about it and feel like there's so many possibilities infront of me. I have no idea what the course is going to be like, whether I'm going to be able to find a part time job to fund myself through it, or what I'm going to be doing on the other side, but I feel really peaceful about it all. At the end of the day, I have some savings I can use to help pay for it all, and this is the rainy day I've been waiting for. And if I don't at least try, I'll never know...