Here is my dilemma, I currently hold my BS in Business Administration. The degree is very vague and there is little you can do with it other than administrative type work. Hence, I am a senior admin. assistant at a very large financial firm in manhattan. I am very unhappy with my job. The work is minimal and tedious and I get no fulfillment from it at all. No to mention, I am not very fond of the people I work with either. Since FH and I have started talking about marriage, weddings and our future together we both thought it would be great if I could somehow work in a school. We have a lot of friends who are teachers and the benefits of the job are beyond plentiful. Not to mention the sense of accomplishment you feel on a day to day basis. (sorry i dont feel like ive accomplished much when I answer someone elses phone, schedule their meeting or open their mail). I grew up with a stay at home mom. and i would LOVE to be able to do that. But from a financial stand point, unfortunately this is not an option. So, I have been considering going back to school for teaching. But I am still very intimidated by it. I wonder if I would be any good as a teacher. Plus I'm 27... am I really going to be able to do this plus get married and possibly have kids??? I'm so stressed and frustrated. I feel like I have completely wasted my time in my undergrad program. I feel totally stuck. Does anyone know of any jobs that would put me in a school but not neccessarily in a classroom? I have researched 'mommy friendly' careers and the 2 big ones are teacher or nurse. I definitely COULD NOT handle nursing.
Sorry this is so long, if you made it this far.. thanks for listening!!
sophisticat13
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: should i go back to school? *teachers*
What I hear you saying is that you think the benefits are great for teachers, but that you aren;t sure whether the teaching profession is for you. If you love kids and love to teach people how to do things, then I say go for it...you would probably make a great teacher...but if you are thinking about it from a purely 'the benefits and vacations are great' standpoint, then I would say to think about something else...sorry if this sounds harsh, but I feel that teaching is a lot harder than it seems to many people not in the profession...if you don't really love kids and love teaching, then even 5 minutes in a classroom is going to seem like 2 hours. I love the kids and they are what makes all the stress (and there is a lot of stress) worth it...it's not the vacations or the benefits. Just being honest...
eta: Another thing...like the other girls said...while it 's a great job, it's also a job where you are never done. Sure you can leave at 3...but the actual work is not 'finished' at 3. So while you can leave at 3, you will still have to factor in many additional hours of work at home grading papers, doing lesson plans, going to meetings and giving extra help sometimes after school, and many other things that we do to make our classrooms wonderful places to learn...just some other points to consider.
blondie24
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: should i go back to school? *teachers*
Posted by Tomlaur0808
Posted by MrsDrinkh20
So teaching is absolutely a wonderful profession. No doubt about it. I just wanted to comment on a couple things and I am in no way trying to deter you from going back to school to become a teacher. It always makes me a little nervous when people talk about going into teaching because of the vacation time and schedule. You are right, the vacations are great and it's nice to be home at a reasonable hour. When people talk about teaching it is rare that they comment on the fact that you are never really done. The amount of work and preparation that takes place at home is unreal, even when you are NOT a first year teacher. I love my job, but I rarely feel like I am 'off.' I also work 2 other jobs to keep myself afloat to pay off my stupid school loans so the early schedule doesn't really give me the time youw ould think that it should. This is not a 'pity party' for me at all because I am quite happy with my job and life, I just wanted to point out some of the thigns the other girls have said about just how difficult teaching is. Also, at this time, finding teaching jobs is very difficult as SO many teachers have been excessed as is. You mentioned a job that could put you in the classroom without going back to school...have you thought about looking into being a TA? I think you need some certification courses but you wouldn't need an education degree.
Again, I hope this post didn't come off as mean, or negative, and I am no way trying to insinuate that you would be this way, but I hate when people become teachers because of the 'Easy' schedule and job. In my opinion you have to really want to become a teacher because of the work itself otherwise you will be very unhappy. GOod luck hun!
I agree with Lauren. I have been teaching on both LI and then upstate NY for a total of 7 years & I was just excessed this June & still have no work/job for Sept. It made it very difficult financially for our wedding. I am not even getting calls for interviews - b/c there is not much available unless you are a HS teacher w/certification in a content area. I'm certified in Elem Ed, Special Ed & Literacy & STILL cannot find a job...its very scary. So before you decide to career change just make sure you are able to secure a job when you are finished with your schooling. Best of luck whatever you decide!
I also agree... The amount of work teachers put in preparing the classroom before, during as well as at the end of the year is crazy. There are so many teachers that were excessed in NYC alone. I was one of them. Luckily, I was able to find a job. I was told most schools are hiring excessed teachers thru open market first, but this was early August. Good luck ladies!! Every job/career has its pros/cons.
GRAVITY82
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: should i go back to school? *teachers*
I am slightly discouraged by all the negative responses I have received. Why are so many teachers so bitter? I think its best if i follow what my gut and heart are telling me to do. I guess it is easy to be unhappy in any profession, but I think you have to take the good with the bad in every situation. For the record I never implied that teachers had an easy job. If I thought it was an easy job I wouldnt have waited so long to make the change. I realize that it will be a lot of hard work, but life is about working hard.. isnt it? My sister is a teacher and I have seen first hand all of the work she does. If the profession were as bad as some of you are making it out to be, I would think that there wouldnt be so many people pursuing it.
I guess I was just hoping for some more positive feedback. But I get it, if someone told me they wanted to become an administrative assistant I wouldnt recommend it either.
Thanks ladies for your help, I;ve got some serious thinking to do.
