I had to give up teaching. Every year I would suffer a breakdown. My last year teaching was absolutely horrific. And I was just a special ed support teacher! I wasn’t even alone In the class! I wanted to be a special ed teacher specifically for students with emotional difficulties, but the lesson planning, IEP writing, grading, etc was all too much stress. After my last year teaching I became a paraprofessional. I tried my hand at teaching one more time but I only made it a month. It took a lot for me to admit my education had gone to waste. The amount of money I spent on trying to get my post baccalaureate...I never completed it.

But, now I am a paraprofessional in a private school for students with emotional/psychiatric disorders. So I still get to work with the population I intended to. I make less than half of what I made as a teacher, but honestly it’s a small price to pay to remain stable. I haven’t been hospitalized or had to take a leave in 2+ years. And now with all this remote/synchronous learning, I’m seriously glad I got out when I did!!!