5 Reasons I Quit Corporate America and Returned to Teaching

I never planned on being a teacher, but sometimes, life has other plans for you.

I entered the profession in 2019 when I earned my CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) on a part-time basis. Within a few years of teaching ESL online, I transitioned into K-12 education and started working as a teacher full time.

It didn’t take me long to realize I liked the work, and after transitioning out of ESL education, I taught at a charter school for a few years. During that time, I grew my travel writing business on the side. I did this for a good portion of my mid- and late 20s, but after a while, I started to experience the all-too-common “teacher burnout.”

So, in 2024, I took a break from education and transitioned to working in an office. While I loved my experience working for a big company, corporate life ultimately wasn’t for me, and I returned to the classroom nine months later.

Every teacher’s experience is different, but here are five reasons I was eager to start teaching again.

I love working with students and watching them grow

When you find a good school to work for, it’s easy to spend years teaching different cohorts of students. The longer you stay in a school, the more students you get to see, and the more you become part of the community.

As an educator, I have the blessing of watching my students grow, learn, and mature — even after they leave my class.

I deeply value this social aspect of teaching, and I definitely didn’t experience it in a corporate environment.

I’m a community-focused person

Teachers are some of the most versatile and talented people I know, and I love how working in education requires me to use my creative skills to build classroom culture.

Each year, I can decorate my classroom and create a vibe that suits my students and me. I can also plan different community-building activities to help my students develop their socio-emotional skills.

While I experienced some collaborative work during my time outside of education, I haven’t found another profession that is so creative and community-focused.

My teaching schedule makes it easier to balance work and life

In the past few years, my home responsibilities have changed. I’ve shifted into a caretaker role, and, schedule-wise, working in education makes it easy for me to be present for the children in my care.

My teaching schedule coincides with theirs, so I’m able to attend games and award ceremonies, and I can easily pick them up from school or take them to appointments. In my experience, this was much harder to do in the corporate world because so many businesses in the US operate on a 9-5 schedule.

I get multiple paid breaks a year

Teacher schedules are a controversial topic, and I wholeheartedly believe educators should be paid on 12-month contracts. However, this is not the case in a lot of school districts, so many educators are not paid over the summer.

I’m blessed to work at a school that pays year-round, and I really enjoy having a job that enables me to take summers off without worrying about the break affecting my finances.

I also get a lovely spring break, Thanksgiving break, and Christmas break each year, not to mention federal holidays, which is a stark difference from the 10 PTO days so many corporations offer employees in the US.

I can maintain my business while still teaching full time

I thrive on creative work. So, on top of running a household and teaching full time, I also have a travel writing business. Over the years, I’ve learned how to be efficient with my time, and I’m able to balance owning a business and maintaining a full-time job.

Since I have been teaching for a while, I have gotten quicker at lesson planning, grading, and other teacher admin tasks, so I rarely have to take work home.

With my free time, I’m able to grow my business and focus on building a passion project, in addition to a career that gives me a great sense of purpose and joy.

Teaching isn’t for everyone, and many aspects of education do not benefit teachers or the children we serve. These are deep-rooted structural issues that need to be addressed. However, given my skill set, interests, and lifestyle, teaching is a job I can see myself doing for many more years to come.