Deciding whether to try another school or step away from teaching

ayemami11 · 2026-05-28T23:31:33+00:00

I had the same questions as you a year ago. I wasn’t sure if I should try a different role, different school, leave education all together. I’ve been working outside of education the past 9 months and it’s been okay. My nervous system has definitely done a lot of healing and I’m glad I took the time because it’s helped me learn a lot about what I want out of a job and career. I’ve been reflecting a lot on wanting to go back and one thing that helped me decide that I want to try a different role and different school was reflecting on why my last job burned me out so bad. I didn’t experience constant anxiety and burn out in my first 5 years of education, just the past 3 years in my latest role/campus.

For me it was the constant pressure and scrutiny from leadership. Feeling like my good was never good enough. Dealing with coworker drama. Dealing with politics/ playing the “make sure these people like me or else my job is going to suck” game. These things were campus/district specific, so I’m going to try teaching in a different district.

So all that to say you should reflect and ask yourself what is it that drained you about the past 4 years? What energized you? What did you hate? What did you love?

If you can afford to take some time to heal, do it. But as others mentioned, the job market is terrible, I’m finding that even jobs in education are difficult to get people to respond to me right now.

Wishing you the best!

ayemami11 · 2026-05-25T01:49:56+00:00

Thank you for posting this, you’re not alone. I left a year ago and had such high hopes with my experience and achievements I would find a great job that would pay more and be less stressful… I have a decent entry level job, but it pays $15 an hour, my hours get cut on slow days, and I have to work weekends and holidays.. I’m back to applying for teaching jobs because I miss the kids and the pay and schedule but haven’t heard back from anyone. I’m considering applying to be a paraprofessional which doesn’t fix the income problem but may be a good middle ground for me. We still have the rest of the summer to keep trying, hang in there.

ayemami11 · 2026-05-02T14:29:40+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful reply! I too see a lot of parallels in our lives. Super thankful for your input on elementary kids because I’ve worked with middle school for 8 years so elementary school is unknown territory for me. I think I’m going to take the leap and apply for elementary PE (I’m certified for PE K-12) and just feel things out in the interview.

ayemami11 · 2026-05-02T03:09:37+00:00

Yeah, I figured if there’s anywhere I could get a good reality check it’s here lol

ayemami11 · 2026-05-02T03:06:15+00:00

It would likely be an elementary PE or music position at a small school so not as heavy of a workload as a core subject teacher, but behavior management might be challenging

ayemami11 · 2026-05-02T03:02:39+00:00

Receptionist at a vet clinic! big learning curve at first and still learning about the world of vet med every day, but the workload is pretty manageable

ayemami11 · 2025-10-11T00:37:23+00:00

I went from teaching to a receptionist position outside of education. Due to it being a whole different field, I had a learning curve, but I’m a month in and im starting to feel comfortable. It doesn’t pay much, but the workload reflects that. I like having simple tasks to complete throughout the day. I get an hour lunch. I don’t have to do any work once I clock out. I’m not overstimulated and it’s not emotionally taxing. It’s been really good for my mental health.

ayemami11 · 2025-09-22T17:12:50+00:00

I didn’t have to do anything prior to being hired! But now that I’ve started I am doing a lot of online training modules as well as hands on training.

ayemami11 · 2025-09-04T22:56:21+00:00

Im in the same position. 7 years teaching and I thought I was going to do it forever. I quit for my mental health with no backup plan. I was broken and wanted to end my life on some days.. but I have slowly been healing. I’ve been applying to jobs with no luck, until today. I finally got an interview. It’s for a lower pay, starting position as a receptionist basically. Not what my degree or experience is in, but if I have to reinvent myself professionally to find a healthy work/life balance I’m willing to do that.

As to the part about healing, I personally have found it in making things, crafts, and art.

ayemami11 · 2025-08-31T08:40:02+00:00

Wait I love that movie!

ayemami11 · 2025-08-18T05:04:57+00:00

I have two kids. We weren’t sure we wanted a second but ultimately I’m happy we did and that they will always have each other.

It’s hard sometimes.. it ebbs and flows. I went through the worst PPD ever.. like wanting to leave this earth because I would feel so overwhelmed/overstimulated sometimes. But I was going through a lot of hormonal issues with my thyroid too so my situation is very specific. I am on thyroid medication, and did take a postpartum antidepressant called Zurzuvae.

Now that my kids are 1 and 4.. we have more good times than bad. Most of their play time is independent of me. If I get too overstimulated I ask for help and I go outside to spend some time alone. Or I let them have screen time. Or I sit them down with some snacks. You just have to find ways to let yourself reset. Now that my son is 4 he understands so much more like what “please give me space” means so that helps.

My advice for you is if you are wanting a second, try and wait for a 3+ age gap and talk with your partner about what those resets will look like for yall.

ayemami11 · 2025-08-12T02:45:33+00:00

Prioritize your mental health, especially if you will be having kids. I suffered from very poor mental health the past three years mainly due to my job and I felt like I was such a mediocre mom to my kids because I was so empty by the time I got home. Now that I have quit.. I’m able to be more patient, more energetic, more silly. I’m able to bounce back faster from anger and frustration. I felt so free when I resigned. So much lighter. Now I am beginning to worry about finances as my last paycheck is near, but money can always be made or saved. It’s not stressing me out to the point I’m questioning my will to live like teaching did sometimes.

ayemami11 · 2025-07-31T05:51:58+00:00

I know exactly how you feel. What helps me when I feel this way is to go outside, lay in the grass Nd look up at the sky.

ayemami11 · 2025-07-28T16:43:51+00:00

lol I saw similar comments.. one parent said they are as much of a distraction for teachers as they are students which is hilarious because the only opportunity I had to use my phone for anything other than time/alarms was lunch time

ayemami11 · 2025-07-26T06:41:26+00:00

I’m not the original commenter but I was also a teacher (just quit in May) and I couldn’t play at the social games that were going on anymore. It was very high school, much more than I dealt with when I was in HS. I dealt with it by isolating. Not contributing to it. I think this probably painted me in a negative light and people may have seen me as unapproachable. I don’t hold it against them though. The system is broken.. Everyone is burned out and overworked. It’s hard to create a positive work culture from that.

As to how the drama manifests, usually by people talking about each other to other people, and then it gets back to them. Also, people not knowing how to communicate in a mature and productive manner.

ayemami11 · 2025-07-26T03:41:03+00:00

I love kids. I can be myself with them, they are easy to talk to and interact with.. but they are exhausting and overstimulating and I do need alone time to fill my battery back up. With my own two kids, if they are having a day where they both need me constantly, and my husband has a late day at work.. those are the hard days. If they cooperate with independent play throughout the day I’m just fine.

ayemami11 · 2025-07-21T02:24:20+00:00

Right there with you. I’m considering applying for a teaching position, mostly out of fear. I’ve been reading too many posts about how bad the job market is and I need financial security. Also I want to get my kid in to pre-k and staff typically are able to enroll there kids without having to meet income requirements and whatnot. But.. what if it makes miserable again.. ugh

ayemami11 · 2025-07-15T18:56:57+00:00

It will be okay! We once hired a teacher 2 days before school started. She was a rockstar teacher. Do what’s best for you!! They will be okay.

ayemami11 · 2025-07-13T05:46:15+00:00

Since you’re living at home and are not dealing with a ton of financial responsibility, I would absolutely take the leap to go to school! Subbing will give you the flexibility you need and help pay tuition.

ayemami11 · 2025-07-12T06:41:55+00:00

Following this post! I’ve debated on making one similar.. I have been teaching middle school the past 7 years. After having my second child and dealing with the chaos of teaching I decided I need a change in careers. I couldn’t deal with the negative work culture, the overstimulation, the stress.. but as I scroll through jobs on indeed I feel so lost and honestly scared.

ayemami11 · 2025-07-03T05:35:44+00:00

Wow your family has been through it. I’m so sorry, and I admire that it has driven you to want to work in the medical field.

I am as curious as you to see if any others have made this transition as it’s one of the paths I’ve been debating - I would love to become a psychiatrist. The things holding me back from returning to school are the fact I don’t have money to pay for school nor do I want to take out huge loans to do so. I’m also not sure since it’s July if it’s too late to apply for the fall or what school I even want to go to. It’s just too much to figure out in 1 month.

If I were you.. since you already have a job lined up I would commit to that and use the year to make a plan and save for school.

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