On leaving history...
Leaving history was not a hard decision to make, nor was leaving acadamia in general. The truth is, I was pursuing my lofty goals (Phd) for all the wrong reasons. In short, I wanted the prestiege, noteriety, and perhaps most importantly, to beat out my two cousins in Milwaukee, one of which has her Masters and the other one is pursuing hers. A kind of academic arms race, if you will. However, I realized that there was no way in hell I could possibly go that far if I wasn't passionate about it.
So, I quit it. Said, screw you, history, I want something I like.
I settled on TESL relatively quickly, given my past experiences and how much I actually enjoyed (instead of simply being good at and declaring it passable) helping other people pick up english. It just so happens that it's possible to make a career out of teaching English (not a particularly grand one, mind you), whereas my odds of getting any sort of worthwhile (let along satisfying) job with a history degree is pretty damn slim.
Aaaaand, that's the story!
So, I quit it. Said, screw you, history, I want something I like.
I settled on TESL relatively quickly, given my past experiences and how much I actually enjoyed (instead of simply being good at and declaring it passable) helping other people pick up english. It just so happens that it's possible to make a career out of teaching English (not a particularly grand one, mind you), whereas my odds of getting any sort of worthwhile (let along satisfying) job with a history degree is pretty damn slim.
Aaaaand, that's the story!