Take a Career Pause - Fulfil Your Dream
In higher education, a #sabbatical is generally a time for faculty to do research or special projects. But, what about administrators? If you are lucky and have been in the position for many years or are on senior management leave, you might have this option. However, if you are not, you have accrued a bit of annual leave that you can use to take a pause. Otherwise, there is the option of unpaid leave, if that is affordable. Let me not forget to warn you that you might get resistance to being gone, plus you might have a plan for a minimum of one year in advance.
Even with all this, it is in my opinion that the health, well-being, productivity, and creativity of many administrators might improve if given this option. I am familiar with one higher education system, Australia, that has a model that seems to work well. It offers employees an incentive to work towards, outside of annual performance increases or bonuses. Given my lack of opportunity to take a break courtesy of my employer, I planned financially, geographically, and emotionally, and created a sabbatical for myself.
I took a break between positions to fulfill a dream of creating a business and do a leisurely job search. The experience of being location independent was as valuable as working in my career. I learned about myself, my capacity, and my creativity. Having the time to reflect and appreciate my career journey deeply, thus far, was monumental for me. I was able to hone what I wanted the next phase of my career to resemble and plan for the upcoming few years.
Most importantly, I could breathe and work at my own pace. I became an entrepreneur - a small business owner. I learned new skills out of necessity to develop and run my business and recognized my grit for pursuing what I want in life. Writing in any form (be it reports, journey, a paper in university) was never a thing for me, but now, it has become a part of who I am. I write to share my story and advice about the life of being a black woman living, working, and thriving in a career abroad. Taking my sabbatical was a necessity I did not realize I needed until I did it.
Take a break and fulfill a dream that has been floating in your head for weeks, months, years, even decades!
Are you considering a pause in your career?
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— Karla A. Fraser, Take a Career Pause - Fulfil Your Dream, Roseapple Global, LLC
Roseapple Global provides expat coaching and guidance for individuals or groups. We serve all aspiring or continuing expats and specialize in assisting higher education professionals. We also offer to consult for student-facing units of higher education institutions internationally. Our services focus on developing or improving the administrative and operational areas of your departments. We help you unlock your potential, maximize your ability, and equip you with resources and tools for your journey or your student-facing unit. Contact Us to help start your expat or student life improvement journey.