That One Time a First Gen Latina Took a Sabbatical

In 2025, I went on Sabbatical. 

This isn’t a traditional “Sabbatical”. I don’t have a job to go back to and my employer is not funding any portion of this because… I’m not going back to work for them. 

In many white-collar professions, particularly academic ones, there are provisions built into your contract that permit a temporary extended leave for the purpose of personal and professional growth, referred to as a Sabbatical. Typically this option becomes available after about 7-10 years of service and requires you to return to your previous position, ideally with more applicable learning under your belt and well-rested. This is an investment strategy that organizations engage in to hold on to employees and ensure they continue to have well-developed talent.

In my contract, the Sabbatical option could be up to a full academic year at 50% of your annual salary every 7 years. However, every detail of your Sabbatical leave request was subject to board approval and in the 5 years I was with the organization, I only saw 1 request approved. I wasn’t surprised when the district immediately moved to suspend the practice to convene a committee to review the viability of the provision moving forward.

When I was hired back in 2020, it never occurred to me that I might one day take a sabbatical. As a First Gen Latina, daughter of Mexican immigrants, the idea of not working and dedicating an entire year to taking care of my own needs and growth was mindblowing… and ridiculous. In what world could I afford to do something so… privileged and decidedly un-Mexican? 

It wasn’t until the summer of 2023 when I was grappling with the emotional impact of my tightly confined role, that I started to consider alternative opportunities that would feed my creativity and enrich my learning. At that point it still hadn’t crossed my mind to take time off from work – I’m a single woman funding my own life, I simply didn’t have the luxury. But I did happen across a posting for a short-term Fulbright program that could have filled the void quickly growing inside me. 

The project in Cape Town, South Africa was right up my alley. It focused on the development of career training pathways and would have supported my creative growth in the field as well as the district’s focus on career education and CTE pathways. The only issue was that I would have to be on the ground in Cape Town for the first 3 weeks of the 2024-25 School Year. 

As luck would have it, this opportunity came up the same year the Sabbatical provision was suspended in our contract so even though this wasn’t a true sabbatical request, I knew that situation might make approval tricky, but I couldn’t have predicted that it would as difficult as it turned out to be.

To apply, I needed to secure permission from my employer and assurance that I would be able to return to my position after the program ended – I was tenured so I wasn’t concerned. I approached my administrators with the idea as soon as I could and together we started the process to request approval from the Superintendent. 

Deep down, I knew I needed this. I needed to know that I could continue to grow and develop as a School Counselor without having to step into administration or leave the district and community altogether. I needed a reason to stay.

They said no.

Not only could I not participate in the program, I wasn’t allowed to even apply. I was told that even if I was willing to go unpaid, spent the summer taking care of scheduling and school year setup, and my team was willing to pick up my workload without a substitute for those 3 weeks, they would not approve it. I was told they were sorry, but there would be other years, this just wasn’t the time.

The Fulbright DAST program has not opened applications since that year.

In hindsight, I think that was the moment when I started to consider life outside of the district, and the moment that led me to submit my resignation last March.

It’s been 8 months since I last stood in my cozy corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows. Every moment of this time off has been absolutely worth it. Old me would never have been selfish enough to take time to focus on me. The First Gen guilt would have eaten me alive. This version of me though is so grateful that things played out how they did; it forced me to stop letting my decisions be controlled by fear. Just because I’m First Gen and I’ve never seen someone like me do this, doesn’t mean I can’t or I shouldn’t.

I changed my mindset and it changed the game.

This is the beginning of a blog series focused on the travel aspects of my Sabbatical. Next week I’ll be getting into the details, expanding on the importance of leading with your identity and connecting to destinations, and sharing practical travel advice for you to consider on your next trip. 

New blogs are posted on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. 

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