Weakness, I could have written this post myself, except for the part about your husband and the fact that I’m 30 rather than 47. I also enjoy teaching, and thought that teaching at the college level would be a good fit because I’m not good at working with groups of kids. After reading a book about the plight of adjuncts, I figured I’d better go get a PhD. The thing is, after talking recently with a few college teachers and some friends who are entering the academic job market, it seems like there can be some pretty horrible politics in that arena. I have basically no willingness to play politics, so I find myself very reluctant to commit the next 5-7+ years of my life to going down that road.

I could go back into software but I just don’t have enough interest in technology to keep up with the hyper-rapid pace of change in that field. Fortunately I made enough money in my most recent software job that I can float and work part-time for a little while.

As far as being able to deal with back-stabbers and brown-nosers and highly judgmental people, I don’t know what to tell you, because that’s exactly what is holding me back as well. But respecting others and not taking advantage of them is NOT a weakness. We need more people like that.