Fourteen years ago I relocated to California believing that I’d continue working on cancer research as a biotechnology engineer.

However, this dream didn’t come true.

Not because I didn’t want to, I didn’t try, or I wasn’t qualified, but because the circumstances didn’t allow that.

The economic crisis of 2008 coupled with immigration rules prevented me from joining a biotech company.

This path was not only my profession, it also fulfilled my passion and purpose. My heart and mind were all invested.

I experienced the closed door as a crisis of meaning.

I remember wondering: “If I can’t do cancer research what can I do? What do I want to do?”

I wasn’t ready to let go of a path I worked so hard to pave.

A few months of unemployment, grief, and wondering went by before I opened up to new possibilities.

Back then, I didn’t know that I would make a career transition to education.

I also didn’t know that I’d find a way to do research again.

Although this research doesn’t specifically contribute to the health of cancer patients, it contributes to finding healthy ways to learn, educate, and live better.

What I wish I had known when that first door closed for me, is that purpose is wide and has many doors.

I wish I had known that I could live my purpose while doing research, developing technology, writing poems, painting, or raising my kids.

We are not defined by a profession. It’s the alignment with our purpose that matters most.