It's the correct move. I know a few Phd pro Ph who went this route in their 30s.

Instead of just listening to U1 students with the same bad takes/logic, they now help people with actual tangible problems in the real world.
They also went from "maybe I can afford name brand beans" to "maybe I shouldn't eat out every day this week".

You got this! I went back to school in my mid-30s, and now 2 years after graduating, my life is immensely better. :)

Of course, I went from no degree to an associates, so a bit different in terms of degrees, but it definitely helped.

that's pretty rad. i have a friend who teaches in chicago, the stuff he tells me he has to go through just to secure his place in the field is just ridiculous.

all the emphasis on new publications, new ideas, new this and that -- what if we already got the important ideas down years ago and now the work of philosophy is in putting it to practice? why demand that scholars demonstrate their capacity for new ideas instead of demonstrating a capacity for outstanding pedagogy of existing ones? it drives me nuts... we say all of modern philosophy is a series of footnotes to plato and yet expect our professors to focus on advancing the field rather than focusing on principles of quality education and mentoring

gah this is why i left academia to do therapy