How did I become an office coordinator after being a first grade teacher? Let's get into it.

How did I become an office coordinator after being a first grade teacher? Let's get into it. Before I talk about how I left teaching, how I applied for new jobs, what kinds of jobs I applied for, and how I got my office coordinator job, and then also what job I'm doing now since I am no longer an office coordinator. I thought I would go into order that way. So I want to back it up to actually a Facebook post that I made the day that I left teaching because I feel like as I was thinking about how to start this series and what story I want to tell about my life and my story and why I left teaching and how I left teaching in the first place, I was thinking about what I want to tell you guys, what I want to say, and I really feel that this Facebook post that I made the day that I left teaching really sums up of how I got to the place of wanting to leave teaching in the first place. So I'm going to read it to you guys and talk about it. So I'm turning in my keys tomorrow and leaving education. I have wanted to be a teacher my entire life, and I never wanted that I would become a burnt out teacher and leave, but it happened to me. I have no idea who will read this entirely way too long post, but I have gotten so many questions as to why I am leaving, I thought I would just be completely honest and share it all. I am so thankful for the 8 years of amazing memories I have made with countless students and families, and the relationships I have built with them. It was such a hard day today saying goodbye to so many students and parents that I love with my ENTIRE heart, but I just can't do it anymore. ❤️ This has been an extremely heartbreaking decision for me, and I am very sad that this is even happening, but I am excited for a future in something new. I also feel an IMMENSE sense of relief, and I am proud of myself for having the courage to put myself first for once. For some reason there seems to be some kind of "invisible forever contract" that you sign when you become a teacher. It is an expectation that if you're a teacher, unless you are retiring or staying home to become a mother, then you are looked down at for leaving without a plan. What I have finally come to realize is, being a teacher is just a job. And like any other job, people eventually move on and move forward, so why can't I do the same without feeling so guilty? I have been contemplating leaving for a few years. There were always excuses in my mind like "this is just a bad year", "maybe if I didn't have this student in my class", "maybe if my admin all got to know me and supported me it would be better", "I'll just stick it out until it's better", "once I have more experience it will be better", "I was meant to be a teacher, and I am so good at it... what else would I even do?", "I can't give up on my dream", etc. I thought about moving grade levels, or changing schools, but then COVID happened and everything hit the fan and I felt like I couldn't leave the students during such a crazy time. I felt like I left teaching, I would be taking a resource from those future students that would have been in my class. For someone who really struggles with anxiety, like me, I would think about children in my class all evening and night. Every. Single. Night. I couldn't stop. I would think about a mean parent email and read it over and over again. I had physical symptoms of anxiety and stress like frequent heart palpitations, as one example. I would cry and get upset at students who deserved better, and the parents who hardly parented them. Wonder if I should be challenging the high kids more, or what else I could have done for my low students. Every time my phone at work had a voicemail light flickering, I literally became physically ill. More than once I have walked into work and listened to horrible hate-mail from parents targeted directly at me and what "I did wrong to make their child act that way". Never accepting responsibility for their own child or their own parenting. The list goes on and on. I am tired. I am so tired. I am so tired. I am tired of constantly putting out a million little fires a day. I am tired of administrators who are so out of touch with the realities of teaching that it is literally a joke they are allowed to run a school. I am tired of having nonstop grading to do, and the expectation of having 2 grades PER SUBJECT (7 subjects) PER WEEK be entered into an online system that parents don't even seem to check, and don't seem to care. I am tired of not getting paid what I deserve. I am tired of working overtime every morning and every evening and every weekend. I am tired of parents forgetting that I am a human being, and that I also have 20+ other children to take care of other than just their child. I am tired of my professional opinion as an educator with experience not being respected. I am tired of students with SERIOUS BEHAVIORAL ISSUES being allowed to throw chairs at me, yell at me, stomp on my feet, and disrespect me with ABSOLUTELY NO CONSEQUENCES GIVEN. I am tired of spending hours making sub plans when I don't feel well and having to find my own sub when there is a sub shortage. I am tired of feeling guilty for taking a day off when I have to go to an appointment. I am tired of making 1 million decisions a day and going going going nonstop.... I am just tired. I loved teaching with all of my heart for so long, and even with one of the best classes I have ever had, I am pushing through the pain and broken hearted feelings of telling them goodbye at the end of the year, and choosing to focus on me. There are so many amazing things I will miss dearly about teaching, and but not enough reasons for me to risk my own health and happiness. I don't know what I am going to do next, but thankfully I have my amazing husband, family, and friends supporting me and helping me throughout these last traumatic few years and reminding me that even though I was a badass teacher, I can be a badass at anything else too. Here's to new beginnings.