At the same time, I had groomed myself as a writer since I was old enough to hold a pencil in my teeth and write on the walls of our modest duplex halls After ten years of bureaucratic bs, such as telling staff there was such a budget deficit that they would have to do some massive layoffs—then six months later were adding buildings and hiring into high-end administrative positions, I took the offer (a kind of golden handshake for those too young to retire) to give up my job(s) at the college I did so not only that older colleagues with homes and mortgages and kids and whatnot needed to keep their positions, but because I never had, after a twelve- to fifteen-hour day, time for my deepest passion, writing.
It took guts, also called intestinal fortitude by my high school English instructor, to make such a dramatic career change It also is supposed to take capital, of which I had none (and I am NOT exaggerating—had about twelve bucks all tolled) But I had internalized the career change