The Parkinson Tower at the University of LeedsAs of 5pm today (I guess), I am officially no longer employed by the University of Leeds. I say officially because due to holiday time owing, I pretty much finished on the 3rd May.

After six years there in one department or another, it’s quite a big move for me to leave – particularly without having another job to go to – but I think it’s the right thing to do. I had been unhappy in my job for a while but had dismissed it in favour of a regular income and the security that working at such as big institution brings. In the end though, the bad bits outweighed the benefits and I didn’t think the other options (such as dropping down to part time or taking a leave of absence) would be enough of a break from it, so I quit.

I’ve decided to have a couple months off as a proper break then I’ll think about what to do next. It’s a quite exciting time but also a bit scary. At the moment though, I feel positive about everything – which is much more than I did a few months ago.