Last Confession

As some already know, I have accepted a job at an office here in the town where I live. What with various unexpected expenses and the amount of money we were spending on gas driving two hours every day, it was becoming unfeasible for me to continue teaching.

As I sit here finishing up the last of my grading and learn a very nice and capable young man will be taking my place in a week, I am thinking about the decision I have made. I do not regret it. Teaching is a very demanding profession. It can be very rewarding, but the toll the stress was taking on me personally and on my relationship with my husband was not worth the reward to me personally.

Teaching is all about relationships. I love each and every one of my students, but I am not the kind of person who feeds off of interacting with people. It drains me. And I cannot leave those relationships at the school when I go home. I feel responsible for them, even when I am at home and on holidays. Grading is the same way.

Now that I know this about myself, I am looking forward to a job I can leave at the office when I go home and having time to volunteer with youth with my husband. He is my primary calling right now, and one day our children will be as well. I am thankful for the experience I have had and I wish all teachers the best. But I am not unhappy about my decision.