I’ve always been a planner. I’ve spent my whole life planning out my future and frankly, very few of those plans ever came to fruition (which inevitably leaves one feeling like an utter failure). I’d planned on getting married, having a family, spending summers in Muskoka watching my kids grow up alongside my best friend’s kids. But some plans you can’t make happen, no matter how hard you try. Thankfully, you can plan for things that you never in a million years thought could happen, like going to graduate school, becoming a teacher and living abroad.

Two weeks before I was scheduled to leave Vietnam for Saudi Arabia I received an extremely good job offer from a prestigious international school in Hanoi. My plan was to go to Saudi. I’d convinced myself and all those around me that Saudi was the best plan so how could I possibly change my plans now?! That’s not what planners do! Moreover, I’d committed to a school and couldn’t not fulfil that commitment. I’d never been more confused and more undecided in my life.

Then I had a breakthrough moment having breakfast with a very wise friend (#Ben) who told me, over a bowl of very spicy pho, that it would be a mistake to not consider a new plan, especially based on new circumstances and new opportunities. So that’s what I did, I considered this new plan pragmatically, using the knowledge that I have now which I didn’t have before. And I’ve accepted this dream offer to stay in a city that I love, living a life that I love. Because sometimes, plans change…

-K