Such great pearls of wisdom from Aeh, further posts are hardly necessary, but I’d forgotten that as a new member, your posts would have taken a little longer to show up, therefore my first reply was made without being able to see your second post which precedes it, so this is something of an addendum (to Aeh & to my first post).

I have learnt to harness the power of procrastination - by strenuously procrastinating task A on my ToDo list, I can often complete tasks B-F. Then, riding on the strong wave of triumphant emotion resulting from multiple accomplishments, I usually find it easy to tackle task A.

I do know what it feels like to leave a field, which was the center of my dreams. I was quite gifted at maths and, throughout all my years at school, believed that I would eventually have a maths related career. I attended a school which, for the past 25 years, has regularly produced team members for the International Maths Olympiad, but I was the school’s first ever finalist and, on only my own steam back then, did not make the team. The crushing disappointment enabled my parents to persuade me onto a path to a different career. I mourned my lost dream, suffered a crisis of self-identity and struggled with tertiary study course materials which didn’t interest me.

It was a sobering experience to land in the workplace, responsible for the care of very sick patients. It was literally a momentous realisation that I just needed to knuckle down and focus on doing the best possible job because other people were dependent. I worked very, very hard (average of 70-80+ hrs/wk for 50 paid hours) and acquitted myself more than satisfactorily. Eventually, after I married, I did find a career niche with better work-life balance and at present, as a mid-career, working parent of three kids, I can’t say that I have any true regrets, though I can still clearly remember (and empathise with you) the feelings at a major cross road.

ETA: I still find ways to enjoy maths even though my formal work only occasionally includes a little bit of statistics. I’ve informally shown my kids, nephews, nieces, friends’ kids how to approach problem solving. I’m very chuffed whenever a young person says to me ‘I wish my teacher explained things the way you do’.


Last edited by Eagle Mum; 07/23/20 01:21 PM.