In August, I walked away from a full-time job to pursue my PhD. I am now living on about a quarter of my salary, and it will be even less next year (because I got some one-year funding that won't renew). Some days, I think I'm out of my mind, and that my savings will run out, and that I may not even be able to get a PhD-related job after I finish, but then I realize that I'm having so much fun.
I will admit that I'm hedging, doing some part-time work in my field and keeping in touch with a lot of my professional contacts. Also, I obviously saved up a lot before I left.
But really, life's too, too short. What's to say you wouldn't be laid off from your current job? Or killed tomorrow by a pop machine? I say go, and don't look back.
|