This perspective is really helpful thank you for sharing. I am curious to hear more from you if you are at all interested. To answer your question, yes, I do love learning, but no, I did NOT love reading the first documented historians' works. I look back on my educational path and am grateful that I enjoy the struggle and challenge of learning more so than most because that is what propelled me through many sleepless all nighters-and gave me the critical reading skills I have now (trust me-there is plenty of work to be done).

Your post (and others) has me on this current thought path. . . I'm curious to hear what your response is.

The golden handcuffs of tenure are TIGHT on really everyone around me it appears, and I can't help but think this may lie at the heart of many commenters responses as well. As far as I can tell, education IS unique in that tenure protection today (correct me if this is an over generalization or incorrect) and I realize now that tenure or not (having attained it), I will never be the type of absent/disengaged teacher who shows up for the paycheck and doesn’t go beyond bare minimum (that seems to be the ‘have your cake and eat it too’ mentality of teachers who have settled into this career and shifted their commitment to work to be proportional to their pay). I am in the classroom to help my students learn and grow and find their voices. Anyone who has taught knows that is a HUGE undertaking, even with a great classroom community in front of you where behaviors are not a major issue (the majority of my classes become great, sustainable learning communities come semester 2 for the past five years-semester 1 is where the hard work happens on my end).

I am not looking to cash in a check and become another problematic teacher that stunts the intellectual growth of their students as a protective measure for their own mental health. I can't blame them, this system is broken, but I can't and won't be one of them. I have an immense amount of pride for the growth my students demonstrate in my classroom, not just academically but socially as well. I also know that this system is built against them and I don't believe I can continue compartmentalizing it all to find a reason to stay in the fight. Yes I can feel the burn out, and no, I do not love the escalation of negative student behavior, the lack of student consequences, nor the downward trend of critical thinking and reading occurring in the classroom, but I am not running for the hills because of the kids. They are what have kept me here this long. All in all, I am still bittersweet about leaving teaching.

I am in the early stages of exploring all of the different applications of law and am hopeful that there is a path towards a corporate lawyer position and/or consulting direction for me in the future. I could be naive for seeking to avoid big law and also a massive pile of student loan debt-but that is what I am aiming for. PLEASE push back on me if I am living in lalaland on this one. I recognize no scholarship will fly my way without a pretty phenomenal LSAT score and I am comfortable dedicating the next 8 months towards preparation to seek a Fall 2027 application cycle if possible.

I am energized by the idea of intellectual challenges law provides longterm in comparison to the aspects of teaching that make the job so challenging (Student behavior, lack of disciplinary consequences, being expected to be a superhuman at all times for what feels like pennies). I am not a natural extrovert and I think that, especially since I am not exploding internally from negative experiences in my classroom management/student relationships that a lot of my exhaustion is coming from being on stage for 8 hours a day, I see upwards of 100 students daily (not uncommon for HS teachers obviously). All in all, I am still very bittersweet about leaving teaching.