I Need a New Purpose

For the past three years I have filled most of my time outside of work completing my MBA at the University of Hartford (Go Hawks!). I've spent many hours reading textbooks and case studies, doing homework, papers, group presentations, midterms, and finals...AHHH! All of the hard work has paid off and I'm finally finished with my degree and will graduate on May 17th.


Now that all the hard work is behind me and I've accomplished my goal, I feel like I need a new purpose. Or maybe just a new goal to strive for. I have to admit that I feel kind of lost having nothing to do in the evenings. Of course I have several projects that have been on the back burner since I started my degree that I could do (like finish the scrapbooks from my Bachelorette party and bridal shower, read the stack of books I have on my coffee table, sew curtains for our new house, and hem the four pairs of pants waiting in a heap on my guest room bed), but something is still missing. I almost feel empty not having a goal to work towards.

Of course, if I were to decide to continue on and get my PhD or suddenly have a mid-life crisis and decide to change professions requiring me to go back to school AGAIN, I think I would seriously need to be medicated and put in a straight jacket.

I have always done well in school, but I found getting my MBA particularly challenging considering I worked full-time, bought my first condo, planned a wedding, sold my first condo, got married, and built a house with A.R. all while enrolled in evening classes. Some semesters I got sick because I stretched myself so thin. Pretty much every semester I was up to the wee hours of the morning on several occassions finishing up a case study, writing a paper, or putting the finishing touches on a Power Point slide show for yet another presentation. I didn't drink coffee at all in the mornings until my second year of grad school!

By far my favorite course was an MBA course in International Marketing that I took to Bangkok, Thailand and Singapore for 12 days in 2007. It was the most incredible experience I have ever had culturally, professionally, and educationally. My classmates and I are even planning a mini class reunion to catch up and reminisce on our adventures. I think my least favorite class was Economics. I just do not think like an economist and it's just my luck that this was about the 4th time I've had to take an econ course considering I took both Micro and Macro for my Associates Degrees and I took it again for my Bachelor's in Accounting at Central CT State University (darned Assistant Dean wouldn't waive it).

My classmates and I visiting Otis Elevator while in Singapore on our class trip:

It's time for me to find a new purpose...a new goal to strive towards. I'm not sure yet if it'll be a personal goal, professional goal, or even just a few mini goals. For now, I think I'll finish those scrapbooks I began back in 2008, read some books for pleasure (gasp!), and start sewing some curtains for our new home with the sewing machine my grandmother got me as a graduation gift (thanks Grammie!). Perhaps in a few more weeks, once I've found myself again and begun to dust off the old hobbies I set aside for the past 3 years, I will discover that having nothing to do can be pretty darned satisfying, too!