Question to SMCs: do you have a compromise job or career?

[Anonymous]

to answer your original question (and FWIW, I am an "SMC") -- I don't have a compromise career or job, but I have definitely made choices along the way. More specifically, there were potential opportunities when my child was an infant/toddler I did not pursue, because I knew I could not swing the time commitment. But I also liked -- and was challenged by -- the job I had at that time. So it was more like a path I didn't go down. The last time I changed jobs, I interviewed a few times with a federal agency that would have been a significant commute. We could have moved, but I didn't want to do that -- her friends are here, my friends are here, my safety net is here, I love my community here. So I didn't pursue that opportunity -- but I don't know that I consider it a compromise. I chose to stay where we live now, for reasons related to both my family and myself.

So no, I enjoy what I do and I love the field that I'm in. I would have had a different path if I had not been a single parent. But different, not necessarily better.