I quit.

I've never been one of those people that dreams of quitting their job in some big scene, or telling my boss exactly what bad things I may think of her, or by storming out shouting "I quit!" Mainly because I don't like to burn bridges, and I don't like people to not like me, and I've never felt so wronged by an employer that I felt any kind of action like that is justified.

My friends have all asked me how it went when I gave my two week notice to my employer on Monday, and I didn't have any dramatic story to tell. I happened to have my annual review scheduled that same day, so I waited for my manager to go through my entire review before I told her. It was a bit awkward for me to let her try and tell me how to improve areas for next year, but I really wanted to hear her review of my performance without it being biased by the news that I was leaving. I could have saved her the trouble, but I was curious!

She took the news well...she didn't seemed surprised at all. She made some comments like, "Well, I knew you weren't that happy" which is true but made me feel bad that it was obvious. She also said she was, "happy and sad" about my leaving. Presumably happy for me but sad to see me go, but she didn't actually say that. She may have meant that she's happy I'm leaving so she can get a replacement with a lower salary and help her budget, but sad she'll be short a banker for a while. Who knows. When I told my colleagues, they just sort of said, "Ok." I expected (or maybe hoped) they'd make a big deal, beg me to stay, shed a few  tears.... but nope. Haha! I knew there'd be no tears, but I did think they'd seem to care more. But honestly if any of them were leaving, I'd probably react the same way.

After five and a half years at this company, it's strange to imagine saying I work somewhere else. But I'm very excited about this change! I've known for a long time that this wasn't the career for me, I just never knew what the right career was. Recently a dear friend gave me a book to read about finding a career, and through the exercises I found a few qualities that I really wanted in a career, and I believe I've found them in my new job: I want to help people, I want to do something that makes a difference in people's lives, and I wanted a schedule that allowed better opportunities for my family.

I'm so excited for all the big changes in my life this year! First up, a career change, and then in two months, a wedding!