Over the next few years, Ruth took up many different jobs. First she tried paid social work for the Charity Organization Society and later she accepted a job as a teacher at the Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles, California. While working there she gained her interest in Asia that would later affect her choice of fieldwork as a working anthropologist. However, she was unhappy with this job as well and, after one year, left to teach English in Pasadena at the Orton School for Girls. These years were difficult, and she suffered from depression and severe loneliness. However, through reading authors like Walt Whitman and Jefferies that stressed a worth, importance and enthusiasm for life she held onto hope for a better future.