A Thanksgiving alone

This Thanksgiving season, I’m spending two weeks house and dog sitting at my parents’ house in the Bay Area. My parents live in a pretty comfortable, large house in a quiet suburban city. My room is pretty luxurious because I’ve managed to decorate it with the artwork I’ve collected from all the traveling I did in my twenties. There’s something about being alone with your thoughts and desires for this long that’s both comforting and scary. Having gone to a private school for college, most of my close friends are scattered throughout the entire country and there’s really no plan to reconnect with them, so it’s just me.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my future during these two weeks. Specifically, whether I will stay in this neuroimaging and MRI field as a research scientist, or if somehow I can find the means to transition into the healthcare architecture sector. The latter would be a pretty long process, I imagine, in which I will need to take yet another pay cut and probably personal loans. But it would represent an investment in my future. It would be another very challenging venture to take on for sure, after medical school and graduate school. I’m wondering if I have the stamina to do it. Probably. I do perceive that architecture is my passion and is where my skill set and talents are the best match for.