I went from Teacher of the Year to leaving the classroom mid-year. And I’ve never looked back.
In December 2022, I resigned after a six-year run in the job I thought was my forever career. I had always dreamed of being a teacher, so much so that my mom gifted me an overhead projector as a Christmas gift in elementary school. When I graduated college in 2017, I packed my bags and fled from Michigan to South Carolina to start my first teaching job as a high school Family and Consumer Science (FACS) teacher.
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re also a teacher, so I don’t have to explain to why I chose to leave midyear. I know you get it, and I hope if you’re here, maybe this will be the validation you need to bet on yourself and listen to that voice in your head that’s telling you it’s time to move on.
There are days when I miss my students and miss creating lessons I’m so over the moon excited about. And while I hold space for the happy moments from the classroom, there is no denying that my life, in all aspects, has improved drastically since I left the classroom. I work for myself as a Virtual Assistant and course creator, which has allowed me the financial freedom and day-to-day flexibility that I never thought would be possible. With every drastic life change that has come my way in these last two years, there have been a lot of lessons along the way. And I hope that if you’re considering leaving the classroom, this will spark some excitement for you about what’s possible, and what you’re life could look like.
1. Ownership of your time is the greatest gift
I can’t believe there was a time when I had 20 minutes to eat lunch, approximately three minutes to use the bathroom, and absolutely zero ownership over my schedule.
For six years, I thought that was just the way it was. But let me tell you, friends, setting your schedule is the truest definition of freedom. I work when I want, where I want, how I want. I can go to the gym at 11 AM. I can meet a friend for a two-hour lunch during the day. I can work for three hours and call it quits.
My time is my currency, and as a soon-to-be new mom, I don’t know how I would have made it through some of the hardest times in my pregnancy if I had been in the classroom. I operate on my own time, and I have never been happier.
2. Financial freedom is game-changing
You may see this and think “Um, duh!” but as a teacher, financial freedom was not part of my vocabulary. I had a master’s degree, six years of classroom service, and made less than $50,000 a year.
I would listen to my friends talk about raises and promotions and would feel so envious because they were achieving their financial goals while I fearfully checked my account multiple times a week. In the years when I thought I would be a career educator, I was generally fearful of what it would look like to buy a house, raise kids, and travel on my income. It felt restrictive and sucked a lot of the joy out of moments that should have been exciting.
I quit teaching in December because I tripled my monthly pay after six months of running my business. Since then, my income has only continued to grow, and I’ve been able to provide for myself and my family in ways I truly never thought I’d be able to. I don’t think you realize how detrimental a scarcity mindset is until you finally break free of it.
3. Mental wellness > work
I was the most exhausted version of myself while I was teaching. For 10 hours a day, I poured all of my energy into my students. When I wasn’t teaching, I was lesson planning. When I wasn’t lesson planning, I was grading. When I wasn’t grading, I was probably doing some stupid duty or responding to the meanest, most vile email from a parent.
The day didn’t end. And by the time I got home to my husband, there was nothing, and I mean nothing, left of me to give. But how could there be?
When I left, I swear I got my color back. I saw pieces of myself I didn’t realize I had lost. For the first time in six years, I felt like me. Can we just all agree that an underpaying job with zero societal respect should never cost someone their sense of self?
I look back at pictures of myself from teaching and don’t recognize that girl. Leaving the classroom brought my brightest, most fun self back. I’m so grateful for that.
4. It’s not your job to make everyone happy
This was a hard pill for me to swallow. I’m an empath to my core. I’m sensitive and I care deeply, and this combination did not serve me well when I handed in my notice. I switched to middle school in my fifth year of teaching and worked for a school that didn’t have a FACS program. I was the only FACS teacher, so when students came back in January for the second semester, there wouldn’t be a FACS program. This meant that 90+ students would have a hole in their schedule.
Do you see how being a certified people pleaser didn’t work in my favor here? I almost didn’t resign because of the inconvenience it would have caused.
Let me say that again.
I almost didn’t resign. I almost put my life on hold. I almost sacrificed myself for the convenience of someone else.
Here’s the thing: My school figured it out. They reworked schedules and eventually found a replacement. Of course they did. That’s their job. And it wasn’t mine to take on the stress of what would happen in my absence.
As teachers, we are constantly told that we deserve more. We deserve more money. More respect. More time. But the second we do demand more, we’re met with anger. And here’s what I’ve learned: That’s not my problem.
Leaving teaching was the greatest thing I could have ever done for myself. I didn’t know it at the time, but a new life was waiting on the other side of my resignation. I chose to bet on myself, and two years later, this decision has paid me back in more ways than I could have ever imagined.
Are you ready to leave the classroom? I may be biased, but I think you should. Join Educator’s Exit, a self-paced course that teaches you how to build a successful Virtual Assistant business.
