When I left teaching after 15 years and moved into corporate, it was uncomfortable.
I was starting over. I had imposter syndrome. I had to learn corporate language, corporate culture, and how to navigate a completely different kind of organization. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad, but it was definitely uncomfortable. Some days I wanted to run right back to the education field that I knew and spent 15 years to grow in.
That’s the thing about changing careers. Even when you make the right decision, it’s probably going to be uncomfortable for a while.
So if you’re thinking about leaving corporate to become a teacher, don’t ask whether it will be hard. It probably will be.
Ask yourself: Is this the kind of hard I want?
What would actually bring you joy?
Would you enjoy explaining something 5 million times to still hear ‘what are we supposed to do?’
Would you find satisfaction in getting a room full of students to care enough to learn?
Because I’m going to say this over and over again: don’t underestimate classroom management.
A huge part of teaching is creating a culture where students are willing to learn, sometimes against their will. You’re competing with phones, lunch drama, whatever happened at home that morning and sometimes a student who would much rather cause complete chaos or entertain their friends at your expense.
Middle school teachers, I see you.
Could you find satisfaction in somehow getting that student to care enough to focus and do what they need to do?
And could you handle being responsible for things you don’t completely control?
Student achievement. Test scores. Behavior. Attendance. Whether students turn in their work.
You may have a student who’s years behind, another who barely slept, and a classroom full of students with different accommodations to manage and document.
Don’t figure this out in your head
Go talk to people who are actually doing it and don’t just ask teachers, “Do you like teaching?”
Ask how they spent their lunch today.
Ask what time they got home.
Ask when those essays actually got graded.
Ask how they keep track of a classroom full of different accommodations.
Ask how they feel on Sunday night.
And if you know someone who’s been teaching for 3, 10, 20 years, ask:
What keeps you coming back?
Don’t stop with teachers either. Talk to counselors, paraprofessionals, the bus driver, the lunch lady. Talk to your kids, your nephews.
Then go see it.
Go Substitute teach, go volunteer, observe a classroom. Visit different schools and grade levels if you can.
Teaching isn’t one job. You might hate elementary school and love high school.
Or, bless your heart, you might discover middle schoolers are your people.
Then try it
At some point, you’ve gathered all the information you can and you still won’t know for sure.
So try.
Depending on where you live, what you want to teach and your existing education, there may be alternative certification routes that don’t require another four-year degree.
Maybe you love teaching. Maybe you hate it. Maybe the first few months are miserable and then you find your footing. Maybe you discover that something you were worried about doesn’t bother you at all, while something you never considered drives you crazy.
And maybe you eventually decide:
No. This isn’t for me.
That’s okay.
You can move on.
Changing careers isn’t a marriage. You don’t have to make the decision and stay with it forever.
Give it good thought. Get good information. Get as close to the real job as you can.
Then give it a try.
Maybe teaching is your kind of hard. Maybe it isn’t.