womanthismonth.com | JANUARY 2026 OPINION 88 For those of you who have been following along with me in this column, you may remember I wrote about my decision to move to Vietnam. You’ll recall how full of hope and excitement I was for a new adventure. At the time, it felt like the start of something brave and transformative. After 10 years of teaching in Bahrain I was ready for a change of scenery and a fresh challenge, and I truly believed that move would be the answer I was looking for. But sometimes, even the decisions we make with the best intentions do not unfold the way we expect. I was only in Vietnam for a few months before I realised that, despite how much I wanted it to work, it was not the right place or the right time for me. That realisation was heavy. Admitting that my meticulous plan had gone awry felt like admitting defeat, even when it was simply honesty. Saying Goodbye to the Career That Defined Me Here’s the kicker though, I wasn’t just leaving Vietnam, I was leaving my teaching career! Teaching was not just a job for me. It shaped my adult life, my routines, my sense of purpose and a large part of my identity. Walking away from it after a decade was not something I took lightly. It felt like closing a chapter that had defined me for so long. Yet, I also knew that staying out of habit or fear would eventually turn passion into resentment. Loving what you do does not mean you are meant to do it forever. Growth can mean honouring what something gave you, while still allowing yourself to move on. Letting go of teaching was bittersweet, but it was also freeing. It created space for me to ask a question I had not allowed myself to ask in years: ‘What do I want my life to look like now?’ Coming Back to What Feels Like Home Leaving Vietnam and closing the chapter on teaching led me to another big decision: moving to Dubai. This time, the feeling was different. Instead of chasing something new, I felt like I was returning to something familiar. Having spent much of my life in the Middle East, there was a sense of grounding in being back, even as I stepped into an entirely new professional world. Dubai did not represent escape. It represented alignment. A place where I could rebuild, reflect, and begin again with more clarity about what matters to me. Sometimes moving forward is not about going further away, but about coming back to what feels like home, both geographically and emotionally. Choosing Change: The Courage to Begin Again Rachel Radford’s column in Woman This Month dives into pivotal issues impacting women, reflecting her unique perspective and experiences. Changing Your Mind is Not Failure We often tell ourselves that changing paths means we failed to plan properly. In reality, it often means we finally know ourselves better. Every experience, even the ones that did not work out, gives us information about who we are and what we need. I do not regret my years in teaching or my move to Vietnam. Both taught me resilience, empathy and courage. They also taught me that it is okay to admit when something no longer fits, even if it once did. There is strength in choosing again, not because you are lost, but because you are paying attention. Finding Purpose in a New Direction Today, I find myself in a role that feels like a natural evolution of everything I have done before. I now work with a company called UniHawk, a student mobility service that supports young people through career counselling, profile development, exam preparation and university admissions guidance to top global institutions. The reason I state this so explicitly is because I think there is something beautifully serendipitous about me now embarking on a career with the sole focus of helping young people feel prepared and confident in their career choices.
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