Last updated on March 5th, 2024 at 03:54 am
I left teaching twice– both times because I wanted to focus on specific life goals. In my last post, I detailed the goals I had my first time leaving, after three years teaching first grade. In short, the aspirations were in the categories of:
1. Health
2. Potential romance leading to potential marriage
3. Writing a blog or book
4. Travel
I hope you’re in waiting in suspense like with watching a good/trashy reality show: Did she find love? Did she travel the seven seas? Did she regret this move entirely?
We’ll take it on, piece by piece.
Leaving the classroom for my mental and physical health
Before: Teachers know the sheer pounding workload of teaching can lead to less-than-ideal food acquisitions and eating habits.
Much like in the classic book about green protein-rich foods, we eat just about anywhere except in the actual best and healthy locations for eating: Hovering over students, over desks, over sinks and in cars bites are gnawed erratically.
As for the food itself, with less time to prepare it, buying food becomes a commonly used way of filling up. And I didn’t always make the healthiest purchases. Add to that the frazzled nerves and decreased time for exercise– I wasn’t enjoying the good health I could have.
After: I am happy to say transitioning from full-time teaching to substitute teaching gave me the time and energy to put back into my health. I joined a CrossFit gym and started lifting weights for the first time ever. I wasn’t too afraid to look stupid or be the “weakest” one on the floor, because I was just amazed to be holding a barbell.
I also started an eating plan called Trim Healthy Mama. My mom and I began to team up, and we went to a supportive group with other women on the plan. It was hard work and amazing. I managed to get stronger and lose 40 pounds. I also went off my medication and felt happier.
This regaining of health and clarity of the mind would’ve been justification enough to quit, and I’m ecstatic I did. But let’s shuffle on to the next goal!
Leaving the classroom in pursuit of possible romance
Before: I had no time for dating when I was a teacher. Who knew my man wouldn’t just *find* me when the only places I inhabited were school and my home and the occasional drive-thru?
I realized my goal of marriage wasn’t this thing that was going to just land in my lap.
Maybe it did for some people, but I started hearing stories from friends of how they had to work at it.
So I set out to work at it– awkwardly, unsure of myself but ultimately coming back with more experience and definitely more interesting stories for my roommates.
Thanks to an audiobook called “Get the Guy” by Matthew Hussey, I realized I needed to vastly increase the chances of meeting someone by showing up places. So my shy self started showing up places– church events, coffee shops, outings with friends. And I made an online dating profile. I used one app so I wouldn’t get too sucked in. And it mostly went nowhere.
After: And then one day, things inched. A greeting on the app turned into conversation. The conversation led to a date– and another, and another. After 2.5 years of fully putting myself out there, I met my husband. (It was actually a couple months into when I went back into teaching, but I’ll count this as a win for my quitting stage, because of all the work I did that helped me meet him.) Was it worth it? Entirely a million times. This changed my life. He became my family.
Leaving teaching to pursue creative endeavors
I originally studied journalism in college. Nearing graduation, when my peers and coworkers at the university newspaper were lining up reporting internships in New York City, I applied to one paper (my hometown daily), didn’t hear anything back, panicked and enrolled in a master’s program for elementary education. Teaching and writing have both been longtime aspirations of mine. So in that uncertain time of whether I could eek out a living with words I bolted into my other interest.
Before: As I dove into my career as a teacher, the writer part of me stubbornly stayed put and tried to poke up through any crack I allowed. I never had time or energy to really write much meaningfully– and it was one reason I took the break. I thought it would be now or never, and I had to try.
After: Because I’ve always felt a gaping wide disconnect between education politics reporting and what occurs in actual classrooms, I sought to address this in a blog. I was only a few posts in when I realized I’d signed up for the wrong race. The level of accuracy and depth I wanted to incorporate into my commentary required mountains of research. I was stretching myself too thin for 0 readers.
I ended up writing about my substitute teaching experiences– the good, the bad, the wacky and random. I just piled my thoughts into a Word document and let them accumulate. I have some great stories in there, but it definitely needs a lot of red-penned intervention. The word count suggests I could have about half a novel there already. Maybe one day I’ll go in and finish it. Every good writer needs an abandoned Word document stuffed with ramblings, right? For all of those reasons, I consider my writing goal partially achieved!
Leaving the classroom for anywhere else
Before: I could have embroidered on a chunky sweater the paradox that with my teaching job, I had money to travel but no time. If I quit, I’d have the time but no money. By subbing, I was hoping for a way in between, a way that could help me do both.
After: It worked! The summer I quit, I tent camped up and down the West Coast with two friends. For three weeks, we pitched our tent in the most vibrantly green, plush forests I’ve ever seen in Washington or in Redwoods parks in Northern California or off the whispering coast of Oregon.
I also went to London to participate in a garment making course at the London College of Fashion.
In the fall, I got the chance to visit India, a country I’d always dreamed of visiting.
So I’d consider my travel goals crushed. I went to places that I’d dreamed and obsessed over. I saw and experienced such a variety of new people, places and practices that will inform me forever. Now that I’m a busy mom and the funds to travel are not quite within reach, I’m SO glad I did this.
Was it all worth leaving full-time teaching?
We’ve finally gotten to the end: Those were my goals leaving the job (the first time)! Does it all make sense now that I’ve layed it all out? (I’ll be walking around with the QR code for this post forever in my purse just so I can adequately explain this to people!)
I hope this post helped you to think about your life goals and what it would take to make them happen. If you’re considering leaving teaching, or even just hitting the pause button on the profession for a bit, read my other posts all about quitting the classroom. I’m cheering for you.
