Where do you live? South Dakota
What sort of job did you
hold? Teacher
In what industry? Middle school/High school education
How old were most of your coworkers? A few around my age but mostly older folk
How did you find out you were losing your job? Principal called me into his office in March. He asked me how I was doing. I admitted poorly. He told me my contract wasn't going to be renewed.
Did you leave right away or did they give you a few weeks to get used to the idea? They gave me the option to buy out my contract and get a long-term sub for the rest of the year. I told them no. I'm glad I did. The contract pay I'm still getting throughout the summer has helped a great deal.
Tell us a little about what you did: I taught mostly seventh grade, but I had a few courses of High School students. My topic was Language Arts/Literature.
What was your favorite part of the job? Interacting with the students, getting to know them as people and trying my best to help them grow.
What was the worst part? Grading, paperwork, the kids who made it difficult. My energy was shot at the end of the day and I could hardly get anything done.
Did you like going to work? Some days. Mostly no. I was actually glad days when I would get sick, because that was an easy out.
Did you feel like you were making a difference? Sometimes. I was always glad to help those who genuinely wanted to learn. Most times it was an up hill climb. Those that told me I was a horrible teacher I took with a grain of salt, but it still stung.
What have you been doing since you've been laid off? Looked for work, but equally loafed. When you find out the thing you thought you wanted to do in college was not something you were good at, it definitely becomes a downer. It's easy to say that I'm depressed.
How do you spend your days? Wake up late, skim the state work site for jobs, put in a couple online applications, take a nap, watch a movie, play online games.
Have your spending habits changed? Trying to go to movies and rent less stuff. Unfortunately my eating habits haven't changed much because I can't cook worth a crap.
How many jobs have you applied for since you've been laid off? 10-20
What kind of job will you go for next? Will it be in the same industry or a different one? It will be different for the obvious reasons. I've been trying to gravitate to semi-educational jobs, but I've also applied to places where the experience is not so obvious. I'm afraid the old adage might be true, "Those that can't do, teach." If I go back to education, it could be even more difficult for me.
Comments