When I started teaching, I was filled with excitement and anticipation, eager to begin the career I had dreamed of my whole life. Little did I know that just a couple of years later, my enthusiasm would disappear, and I would find myself desperate to quit.
The Turning Point
When COVID-19 initially hit, I experienced a more flexible work schedule, working from home a couple of days a week. This new arrangement made me feel calmer and more in control, prompting me to question why I was enduring a 50+ hour work week in the classroom with no flexibility. March 2020 to July 2020 was a challenging time to teach, filled with uncertainty and adaptation.
As the new school year began in September 2020, teachers braced themselves for the unknown, with COVID-19 still looming. This school year turned out to be the breaking point for me. I had an extremely demanding class with many children requiring additional support, but of course we did not have enough support for these children. I was saying yes to everything that was handed to me as you do as a teacher. You are expected to go above and beyond without getting anything in return. I felt guilty for not being able to give all my students the support they deserved, especially those who needed it the most. I felt helpless after meeting with external professionals not being able to do the strategies suggested due to limited staff, space and resources.
Reaching My Breaking Point
My breaking point came when the student teacher I was mentoring went off with COVID-19, and I thought I had it too. Instead of panic, I felt relief at the prospect of some time off. However, when my test came back negative, I was filled with dread at the thought of returning to school. What I initially thought was COVID-19 turned out to be severe burnout. I had an anxiety attack about going back to work, and that’s when I knew enough was enough. I was immediately signed off work and ended up taking two months off, which took me to the end of 2020. During this time, I reevaluated my life and delved into self-development.
When I returned to school in January 2021, I was eased back in with a smaller class due to another lockdown. While this allowed me to provide more support to the high-need children, it became overwhelming again once the full class returned. I made it through the rest of the school year, we eventually got some more support in my class and I got told that I was going to be moving year groups to reception in the next school year. I was excited to have a fresh start but I also knew deep down that I wasn’t going to be teaching for much longer.
A New Beginning
In January 2022 I signed up for a Pilates instructor course, something that I always wanted to do after growing up dancing. I took the course in April 2022 and a month later I saw an opportunity to work part time at my school as one of our PPA cover teachers was leaving. Unfortunately, I was informed that they weren’t going to recruit another teacher due to keeping the costs down and dealing with the cover internally. I was still determined to work part time though and asked if there was any possibility of me doing a job share with another part time teacher. After a lot of back and forth and waiting, I was offered 4 days, the 5th day being covered by another teacher in the school. This was not the route that I wanted to go down as I would still have the workload of a full-time teacher. I decided to look for other part time jobs and ended up getting a three-day temporary maternity cover job share at another school. This allowed me to balance teaching while building my hours as a Pilates instructor and exploring other income streams, including content creation.
I had an incredible year working part time at my new school and was asked if I wanted to stay working at the school permanently. I could have easily stayed, I had a great team, a lovely class and my stress and work load had decreased. But I knew that I was destined for more and that I needed to get out of my comfort zone. After a year working part time and 5 years in total, I said goodbye to teaching and it was the best decision I ever made.
Embracing Freedom
Since leaving teaching, I have started my own online Pilates platform, grown my social media following, created multiple streams of income and completely transformed my mindset. In January 2024, I embraced a life of freedom, leaving everything behind to travel. I spent four months exploring Southeast Asia, visiting Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Now, I am living in Bali for six months before heading off to travel around New Zealand and Australia at the end of the year. I am finally living the life of freedom I always dreamt of. Now, I have the flexibility to work on my own terms, free from the stress and demands that teaching once imposed on me.
Leaving teaching was a difficult decision, but it allowed me to rediscover my passions and live a more fulfilling life. For anyone feeling stuck or overwhelmed in their career, remember that it’s never too late to make a change and pursue your dreams.
