2020 Life Update

Happy 2020! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I took the month of December off from blogging in order to better focus my energy on some personal developments that have been happening behind the scenes. The end of the decade brought some big life changes, and I’m really excited to see what the next chapter will hold!

2020 LIFE UPDATE

I’m sure you’re all wondering what this mysterious life update might be, so without further ado here it is: I’m going back to school! I don’t talk much about my personal life/ work life on here, so in order for this decision to make any sense I feel like I should give a bit of background.

I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in retail merchandising. I moved to New York City immediately after graduating to work as a buying assistant for Steven Alan, after having interned there the summer of 2011. I loved the brand and the people I worked with, but I couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that something was missing. A friend of mine worked at Kohl’s NYC design studio in product development, and when she mentioned that a job had opened up within her office I jumped at the opportunity. Product development wasn’t something I had experience in, but I thought perhaps this new area of retail would finally feel right. After a little over a year it was clear that it wasn’t a good fit for me, so I took a position with a wholesale company. Another year went by and I still felt unfulfilled, so I made a decision that some would consider pretty crazy – I quit my steady corporate job to become a nanny.

It was meant to only be a temporary thing while I figured out my next career move, but I fell in love with the family that I worked for and truly found myself happy at work (finally!). After 2 years the family moved to Philly, and I was devastated. I found myself dreading the idea of looking for a new corporate retail job, but luckily fate brought me another amazing family to nanny for. I worked with them right up until making the move to London.

Since moving to London I’ve been blogging full time as well as doing some freelance work for a boutique PR firm in Oxford Circus. Don’t get me wrong, I love my blog and the all of the opportunities it’s presented me in London. However, I found myself feeling yet again like something was missing. I thought about getting a nannying job here, but I began to wonder about the longevity of such a position. There was no way to grow, to get promoted, to build a true career. So I started to think about ways that my love for children could be turned into a career, and that’s when I landed on teaching.

I had briefly considered teaching back when I was nannying in New York, but with undergrad student loan debt and the massive cost of postgraduate studies in the states (particularly in NYC), it felt completely unattainable. After doing some research on education programs in London, I started to realize that this was a goal that I might actually be able to achieve here. After some more research I landed on a masters program at London Metropolitan University. I was a bit nervous to apply, as my undergrad grades were definitely not above average (I will fully admit that I didn’t work as hard as I should have, as I never planned on pursuing any type of postgraduate education – I thought corporate retail was my dream job!). Despite my doubts, I was accepted into the university! Starting later this month I will begin an 18 month masters program in education. The degree is of course valid for teaching here in the UK, but is also transferrable to the states should I ever decide to move back.

I’m SO excited about this next chapter in life, and definitely plan to share more about my studies and my experience as an international postgrad student. I will of course continue to blog throughout my program and when I (hopefully!) become a teacher as well. Blogging has always been something that I enjoy and I would never want to give it up! If you have any ideas or suggestions on student life posts, please do send them my way.

Wow, that ended up being much longer than planned – if you made it this far, thank you! I can’t wait to share this new journey with you 🙂

xx Mollie