Well, I've done it. For good or ill I've taken the first (rather large) step and relocated my family from the San Francisco Bay area to the suburbs of Chicago, where I grew up.
I'm in the rather luxurious position of working remotely for my current employer while I prepare for a career change. Continuity of employment and benefits eliminates a great source of stress for anyone uprooting a family, and I will always be grateful to my employer for the boost.
My plan is to work in my current position for the next year while also preparing to teach starting in the fall of 2011. I expect that I'll have to do two major things (and many minor things, of course): First, I'll have to figure out how to get certified. There are different paths to certification in Illinois, some conventional, some alternative. And I'll need to choose one that fits my plans. More on that as I discover new things about the process. Second, the part of my brain that once regularly solved physics problems has fallen into some disrepair and is in need of rehabilitation. I'll have to find an intellectual gym, too. And then there are the matters of finding a home, getting my kids into school, convincing my wife (a native Texan) not to leave me when the Chicago winter sets in...
In spite of these hurdles, it's difficult for me to express how excited I am about the prospect of my new career. I want so badly to begin that it's difficult to focus on all the other things I must do to make a living in the meantime - they seem so trivial in comparison.
It's an amazing and wonderful thing to find ones purpose.
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