This weeks saw me saying goodbye to friends and colleagues at my school after making the decision to step down as head of my faculty. The decision was not an easy one to make, I love my team and the school but I was feeling constantly weary. The 35 minute drive up and down the motorway, the 6:45AM alarm, the constant demands on me finally took its toll. It is not that I couldn’t have carried on, but I got to the point were I just didn’t want to anymore. As I posted before I realised that what I loved is teaching and I wanted to make a difference. When I posted my previous post “A New Chapter” I didn’t actually know what I was going to do next. I resigned without having another position to go to.
I do now. I was successful in securing a position as a A level maths and GCSE resit lecturer at my local college. My commute to work is 3 minutes walking and I will get to see me lovely Teddy every morning. It won’t be dark in the mornings and I will only have to spend my time planning what I am going to be teaching that week. Very different from the last 7 years.
Will I miss it, of course I will. I will miss being in charge, making the decisions, but I will have some of that in this new role. I will miss the friends I have made, but am quite philosophical about life and that friends stay friends if they want to. I did shed a tear or two this week and the reaction from my students was amazing. I think you forget the impact a teacher can have on the students and this week I saw that with some lovely messages and presents from the students I teach. I will be sad to not be teaching my Y10s into Y11s, but with the changes happening I wasn’t going to have the same classes anyway. It therefore seemed like the best option to leave this year. There is not always the best time to make these decisions, but sometimes you have to be brave and think of what is good for you.
Am I still thinking about things I had not said before I left ahead of next year. Little things that hopefully make life easier, yes I am. This will take time for me to not keep thinking about that. Am I thinking about what is to come, making new friends, working out new routines and systems, yes I am. Does it give me sleepless nights, yes it does. Does that mean I shouldn’t change things? No, at the end of the day I will continue to worry about many things but that doesn’t mean I should never change anything. I hear so many stories of people continuing to work and then retire, but either don’t live much longer or are not able to enjoy life in retirement. I want to be able to enjoy my life now and in a few years time when I retire so for my own mental health and well being I made this decision. Do I sometimes think it is a good idea, hell yeah, but life is worth taking risks sometimes. So go out and be risky.
Before I sign off, I want to say thank you to everyone that I have worked with over the past 11 years. Keep in touch.
Thanks
Comments
Post a Comment