There are times in life when we decide it is time to begin again.

After being away from my career for personal reasons, I reached a point where I felt ready to get back on track. I wanted to rebuild my professional life, and I began looking for a path that would take me there.

At that time, there were quite a few opportunities for Assistant Professors in Training Colleges, and pursuing an M.Ed. seemed like the right way forward.

So, I joined an M.Ed. programme.

It was a two-semester course then, and I entered it with a fairly clear picture of what I wanted to do next: complete my M.Ed., apply for a position in a Training College, and get back into the professional world.

Little did I know that I had another major life event waiting for me.

And Then I Discovered I Was Pregnant

I realised I was pregnant only after I had joined the course.

It wasn’t exactly part of the career-restart plan I had carefully imagined!

Because the pregnancy was relatively later than usual, I had to undergo a number of investigations and scans, including chromosomal and other blood tests, almost every month. Alongside all of that, there was an M.Ed. programme to complete.

There was no putting the course on hold.

So, I carried on.

Studying with a Growing Tummy

An M.Ed. was not merely about attending classes and writing examinations. There was a dissertation to complete too.

For my study, I had to collect data from M.Ed. students across three districts.

That meant travelling, meeting students, explaining the study, collecting data and completing all the work required for my dissertation—with a growing baby and an increasingly uncomfortable tummy.

There were plenty of uncomfortable moments.

Quite literally.

As the pregnancy progressed, ordinary things became difficult. Sitting for long periods was uncomfortable. Travelling wasn’t always easy. Even finding a comfortable position to sit and work could become a task in itself.

But somehow, I kept going.

Then came the second-semester theory examinations.

By that time, my tummy was very much in the way!

Sitting properly on the examination bench with a full-term pregnancy was no easy feat. I remember those examinations not simply because of what I wrote in the answer books, but because of the physical effort it took just to sit there and write them.

Yet I did.

And, thankfully, I passed the examinations with flying colours.

The People Who Helped Me Through

Looking back, I realise that I didn’t get through those months entirely on my own.

I was fortunate to have as my M.Ed. guide a highly respected scholar and educationist who had held distinguished positions in higher education and made significant contributions to teacher education in Kerala. His scholarship, experience and stature in the field were deeply inspiring.

I was also part of a very small class.

There were just twelve of us.

And those twelve classmates became an unexpected source of comfort and support during a rather challenging period of my life.

They were particularly kind to me during those uncomfortable months of pregnancy. Some of their sweetest gestures came straight from their mothers’ kitchens!

My friends would bring little goodies prepared by their mothers, keeping my changing tastes and cravings in mind.

Those may sound like small things.

But they weren’t.

When you are going through something physically demanding, knowing that people are thinking about you can make an enormous difference.

I also remember with gratitude the kindness and support of our Principal, a senior nun whose concern and encouragement made that period easier for me.

Sometimes, it is the people around us who quietly help us keep going.

Then Came the Baby

I completed my second-semester theory examinations.

And then, after the examinations, I delivered my baby.

My M.Ed. journey had now acquired an entirely new dimension.

There was still one important academic hurdle left—the viva voce.

My baby was barely a month or two old.

And yes, I took him along with us for my M.Ed. viva.

I sometimes look back at that period and wonder how I managed to bring all those pieces of life together.

Here I was, a new mother with a tiny baby, completing the final requirements of a postgraduate degree that I had undertaken because I wanted to rebuild my career.

And I did it.

I successfully completed my M.Ed.

The Plan Was to Teach

My plan was to use that qualification to enter teacher education as an Assistant Professor.

I had chosen the M.Ed. deliberately. I had worked towards it deliberately. I had endured the physical discomforts of pregnancy while studying, completed my dissertation work across three districts, written examinations with a full-term tummy, delivered a baby—and still returned to complete my viva.

I was ready to begin the next chapter.

Or at least, I thought I was.

Because life, as I would discover once again, doesn’t always follow the plans we make for it.

That part of the story belongs to another chapter.

For now, when I look back at my M.Ed. days, I don’t simply remember a qualification that I earned.

I remember a woman who was trying to find her way back to herself.

A woman who was studying while carrying a baby.

A woman who travelled for her research with a growing tummy.

A woman who struggled to sit on an examination bench but stayed until the papers were completed.

A woman surrounded by twelve classmates who cared enough to bring her food from their mothers’ kitchens.

A woman who walked into her viva with her newborn beside her.

And a woman who, despite everything, finished what she had started.

Perhaps that is what this chapter of my life taught me:

Sometimes getting back on track doesn’t look like a straight road.

Sometimes it looks like books piled on a table beside prenatal reports.

Sometimes it looks like dissertation data collected across three districts with a growing baby inside you.

Sometimes it looks like writing an examination while trying to find a comfortable position on a bench.

And sometimes, it looks like walking into a viva with your newborn in your arms.

I didn’t know then how many more twists my career journey would take.

But I do know this:

I had begun again.

And for that chapter of my life, that was enough.