Rocket Ship: When to Flee

Yesterday I ran across the following quote:

"If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, get on, don't ask what seat." -  Sheryl Sandberg

Which leads me to a related point:

"If you're on a poorly maintained, poorly fueled, poorly aimed rocket ship... for goodness' sake GET OFF RIGHT NOW."  - Me

If this happens while you're taking off, flee!
 (Image Credit: NASA)

Recently I quit my engineering job at a Fortune 500 company. Although I've had a few days where, fueled by boredom and loneliness, I have wished I was still there, I'm very happy to be free.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a believer in intelligent, well-educated women.  I enjoy what I learned in graduate school, and I'm looking forward to applying it in the future.  But I was sacrificing my health to remain at that job, and I only have one body to live in.

I don't want to get personal about what went wrong.  I'm trying to forgive those involved.  But I can't work somewhere where creative, hard-working, prolific people are constantly put down (even though it's unintentional).

Engineering ladies, if this describes you, find a different job before you burn out!  It's really hard to wait for your self-worth and motivation to grow back.