I am a 46 y/o ex-environmental geologist who thinks maybe he finally knows what he wants to be when he grows up. (or should that be “if”?). I an nearing the end of my first year at UNECOM, and still standing. I am particularly interested in how others with families and working spouses are coping with the change and how you expect to deal with juggling both careers in the future.
The mechanisms the stengthened my marriage before medical school are keeping it afloat now. Wendy & I focus on maintaining honesty, communication & respect. We also never become complacent and claim, “that could not happen to us”. That is the fool’s way of inviting that very thing to occur!
We also pointedly schedule ‘us time’. Unless it was finals week, once Wendy got home from work on Fridays, the books got put up! Friday was Wendy’s day and Friday night was date night. At KCOM, I believe it was something they either recommended during orientation or was advise from an upperclassman’s wife. And, when you hit the restaurants in K’ville, it was obvious that a lot of folks to the advice to heart.
Essentially, we decided our marriage was a priority, the #1 priority. In the short-term, there would times when tasks at hand would demand more focus that our marriage; however, for the long-term, our marriage was #1. And, we stuck to those priorities!