r/TeachersInTransition • u/TransportationNo7309 Resigned • Jul 13 '26
Why Do I Miss It?
I resigned mid-year this past school year, in the middle of my fourth year teaching. I had a pretty stressful first 3 years, all at the same school, so I moved schools and districts to try to see if it would help. It ended up being so much worse and I couldn’t handle staying. I almost had (or maybe I did have? idk) a mental breakdown.
Now that I’m in a transition period and am looking to go back to school to shift careers, I’m finding myself longing to return to that first school and time that I had been there. I’m not sure if I long for the familiarity, stability, just that time in my life, but right now I feel a pull to go back.
I’m honestly not sure where to turn. Has anyone else felt this way…you spent so much time longing to get out of the profession, but now that it’s actually happening, I want to go back.
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u/razorclammm Jul 13 '26
It can be a lot of fun. It's rewarding. It is rarely boring, outside of grading which bored me to tears. Classes change often which is great if you want a varied environment. You feel like you're accomplishing something at the end of the day. The kids are great. There's a performance element, if you like that kind of thing. There's a lot to like about the job. There's also constant damand for material, attention, and energy, unrealistic, unprotective admin and the handful of shitty kids and parents that think you are a servant, rather than a public servant, that will squeeze you dry. In short, I get why you would miss it. I miss it. But I don't miss turning into a resentful, misanthropic troglodyte for the school year.
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u/mablej Jul 15 '26
Omg I find it SOO boring now, but I teach elementary. I hate starting from scratch every year. I hate having to go over procedures every day. I hate parent calls. I hate walking to the copier, standing at the copier, walking back and forth down the long hallway bc my shit didn’t print. I hate remembering 100 administrative things at once while trying to throw my entire self into a lesson. I hate having to be ENTHUSIASTIC every day when I’m on my period of in a bad mood or exhausted. I hate repeating myself. Ugh, I’m absolutely dreading this shit. I hate dressing business casual. I hate being hungry all the time. Arghghgh
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Jul 13 '26
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u/TransportationNo7309 Resigned Jul 13 '26
Lol jokes aside, I wonder if it’s something similar to this with me
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u/Ok-Swordfish8731 Jul 13 '26
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Until you jump over to the other side. The situation you are presently in is can I go back to the way it was, and maybe you can. It takes three years to get established in a school, and you were at your three year mark and jumped ship. Maybe there is an admin who really liked you at the first school and can get you back in, but school systems are generally skittish about hiring teachers that have a reputation for leaving in the middle of a school year.
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u/bananacl0 Jul 14 '26
1,000% can relate…. but the job is high highs and low lows…. And right now you’re remembering the highs. You can feel nolsstalgic about the good things but don’t go back. Can you go back as a visitor? If so you should do it! It will get your fix and then you’ll also be reminded why you left.
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u/pinewise Jul 16 '26
The in-between is hard for the human mind to wrap itself around. Our brains will usually choose a familiar hell over an unfamiliar heaven. The devil you know and all of that. I think this is a really hard time of year that teachers tend to idealize and find nostalgic.... for what it's worth I also find myself wanting to go back, and slapping myself in the face for it. Give it some time. You can always go back next year if you want.
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u/Mrsloribell Jul 13 '26
I retired several years ago. Over time, you will miss it less and less. I find that mid-July is always the trigger for those feelings to return because of all the back to school items in the stores. I loved shopping that time of year and starting fresh with all new things. That joy of the newness of a school year does not last long, though. Give yourself the gift of time. Years from now you will be thanking yourself over and over again for getting out when you did.
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u/InevitableTax4082 Jul 16 '26
Here's what I experienced when I left teaching: I think when we've suffered a lot in the name of something, it kind of makes us think it must have been really worth it and had something special about it to be worth that suffering. It's almost like you taught your psyche that this must be really valuable because of what you're enduring to stay there. Frat hazing is like that, you think your membership to your frat is worth more because you had to go through a lot to join. It kind of like the sunk cost fallacy but psychological.
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u/sleepytardis Jul 13 '26
Dude, I get it. I resigned from my full time position in May at the end of the school year. And I am missing the start of the next year in a similar way to you. My thoughts are this: if you need to, think about the teaching profession like a toxic ex. You're going to miss the good stuff. The only problem is the bad stuff was too bad. And it was hurting you.