Working as a flight attendant was stressful and I needed a career change

• Abby Ooi worked full time as a flight attendant while earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in counseling.
• Oi, 28, had to sacrifice sightseeing and sleep to complete her assignments.
• Her weekends were spent on an internship.

This essay, as stated, is based on a conversation with Abby Ooi, a therapist, graduate student and former Singapore Airlines flight attendant. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

At 18, I moved from Malaysia to Singapore with $230 and a career plan.

I wanted to become a flight attendant – something I have dreamed of since childhood. My mother raised my two older brothers and me alone. When we were growing up, we couldn’t afford to travel, so I thought I would do it myself one day.

After working in retail for three years—and while finishing my Bachelor of Arts degree—I landed a job with Singapore Airlines as a flight attendant at age 22.

I was young, excited and grateful to get the job. I thought I had everything I wanted.

But a few months into my second year at Singapore Airlines, I started to feel very stressed. I had to show up every day in perfect condition and be nice to everyone, and then come back to an empty apartment. and study for a bachelor’s degree. I couldn’t afford to take days off because I needed my salary.

I also found that industry expectations were conflicting. There were strict rules to follow and I couldn’t bring myself to think critically. Flying also took a toll on my body.

I decided to start seeing a therapist and it helped. A few months later she asked if I had ever thought about becoming a therapist. She told me that I was a quick learner and highly knowledgeable.

By then I received my bachelor’s degree and worked for several years. I realized that I have the ability and resources to achieve what has become my second dream: to become a therapist. My therapist’s words inspired me to pursue this new career.

During my third year as a flight attendant, I completed a six-month counseling training course and decided to pursue a master’s degree in counseling.

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Balancing work and school came with sacrifices.

I spent about S$60,000, or $45,500, towards my Master’s degree and graduate certificate from Monash University. Expenses so much money avoiding loans made me feel obligated to see things through to completion.

My degree was part-time, with about 12 hours of classes each week. As a flight attendant, I averaged 120 hours of flight time per month. Our schedule was irregular and unpredictable. However, since the classes were online, I found time to fit them into my schedule.

I will not glorify the life of work and study. I had to make sacrifices.

This was an example of my daily schedule: I would land early in the morning in a new city and drive to the hotel. Feeling tired, I sat down at my desk and concentrated on my school assignments. After a few hours of completing the day’s task, the next thing I knew was that it was time for bed. I would set the alarm for 5am to finish. Then it was time to board the next flight.

I remember how much I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty in New York or visit Disneyland in California. However, since I had scheduled tasks, I did not allow yourself to be distracted from the temptation to go out with colleagues to see something new.

Sometimes, when I didn’t have a task to do, I had time to go somewhere. But I knew that when meeting with my colleagues, people would want to visit the restaurants and then split the bills accordingly. I knew I couldn’t afford it, so I went to libraries and museums and spent time alone. Because of this, my colleagues often considered me antisocial.

I also avoided social media at the time because I thought it was too big. distractions. I was often lonely, but I was always looking at the bigger picture. I thought: I don’t need social media right now, and I don’t need to meet people, because the most important thing right now is my dream.

My weekends were spent on an internship

As part of my degree, I was required to complete 250 hours of professional clinical experience. So, my weekends were spent completing three clinical internships.

Last year I completed my Masters in Counseling at Monash University. After working for Singapore Airlines for 6 years, I left in February and moved to Sydney a week later.

Keen to further my studies, I applied to the University of Sydney and was awarded a scholarship. I am currently pursuing a second master’s degree in social work.

Looking back on my time as a flight attendant, I saw different aspects of humanity while traveling to different parts of the world. I’ve seen drug addicts on the streets in San Francisco and starving children in the slums of Mumbai.

It got me thinking, how can I help people? This helped confirm that I was planning on making the right career change.

These days, I share my journey on social media and get messages from people asking how I learned while working.

This is what I tell them: the future is yours. Take advantage of the resources you have, and even if they are not many, you can increase them with time and effort.

It definitely wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.

A spokesperson for Singapore Airlines did not respond to BI’s request for comment.