Sometimes I Wish I Had Gone Into Teaching

As you may know, I recently officially completed my Master's degree in Communication. I loved the field and and still do, but lately I've been finding myself regretting not becoming a teacher.

I never wanted to go into teaching. In undergrad I double-majored in English and Psychology, purposely trying to keep things as broad as possible. I would always get the "do you want to teach" question and always respond "no." Even back then I pretty much knew that 1) I wanted to do something writing-intensive, in PR, marketing or publishing, since I at least fancy myself a writer and 2) I would go on to graduate school at some point.

I have a lot of teachers in my family, and while most of them love what they do, I had first-hand witness of the underpay and under-appreciation of teachers as well as the frequently resultant burn-out. It was my mom, though, who really influenced my not wanting to teach. She spent several years as a special ed teacher with a classroom full of emotionally disturbed students whose parents would do things like leave them home alone all weekend while they were out getting high and a principal who had no use for the special ed program. Today she works in higher ed, which has its own set of problems. But yeah, I'm sure you can see how this turned me off to teaching.

In 2007 I lost my job as an editor for an educational publisher, and it was then I decided to go back to school. It took me 4 years going part-time and skipping a few semesters. Funny enough, when I was writing and editing educational materials along with people who had actual teaching experience I had less desire to actually be teaching than I do now.

I think seeing all my teacher friends post lesson plans and creative learning tactics on Pinterest might be part of it. Obviously I know that day-day-life  in the classroom is not much like the glossy, shiny little world of Pinterest. But there's something very appealing to me about getting kids to love learning in general and the books, writing and the English language in particular.

Oh, well. I do also love the path I did take, and most people have multiple careers throughout their lifetimes anyway, so it's not like that door is completely closed to me. But darn you, Pinterest, for always reminding me of what I'm missing out on.