My Pandemic Story: Covid Made Me Realize I Hated Being A Teacher
I should have quit a lot sooner
If you had told me in March 2020 that I’d quit teaching, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Before Covid turned our lives upside down, I was happily teaching a pre-kindergarten class in a small international school.
Or at least I thought I was happy…
I began teaching preschool in 2011 (first in the US and then in Denmark from 2015) and built a comfortable career in the classroom. I frequently joked with my friends and coworkers that I could never see myself leaving education because “I doubt I’d survive in an office job.”
Then in March 2020, we had an emergency staff meeting. Our principal told us that we were going fully remote for a few weeks. I panicked.
How the hell was I going to teach preschoolers online?
We had almost no time to prepare, and the first week was an absolute nightmare. I scrambled to set up online accounts, record videos, prepare activities, and figure out how to use Google Meet. It was a complete upheaval to my everyday life.
But after a week, I fell into a comfortable routine. Remote teaching wasn’t ideal, but it was functioning. My coworkers complained about how hard it was to work online, and I was confused because I was quite happy working from home. Yes, I missed seeing my students every day, but there were many things I did not miss.
I didn’t miss waking up at 6 am every morning. I didn’t miss getting migraines in my noisy classroom. I didn’t miss drinking lukewarm coffee. I didn’t miss staying late to prep materials and attend meetings. I didn’t miss being harassed by administrators and angry parents. I didn’t miss being exhausted after a full day of keeping up with small children. I didn’t miss the expectation to work outside my contract hours.
When the Danish prime minister opened schools again, I returned to the classroom, but my passion did not. Following my usual schedule felt claustrophobic, and I couldn’t figure out what had changed. I chalked it up to Covid anxiety and tried to power through.
Over the next few months, I lost all motivation and found myself doing the bare minimum at work. I was always the teacher who went above and beyond, so this change was noticeable. My coworkers and principal were quick to complain that I was no longer a team player when in reality, I was depressed.
I went to my doctor for help and received a prescription for anti-depressants and a referral for a therapist. I complained about virtually every aspect of my job during our first session. My therapist eventually asked me when I planned to switch careers, and I hastily snapped, “Never! I love being a teacher!” To which my therapist calmly said, “No, you don’t.”
No. You don’t.
That sentence hit me like a slap across my face because I knew it was true. My therapist could see the shock on my face and gently continued, “It’s clear to me that you are deeply unhappy in this job. Why are you trying to convince yourself that you love it?” I had no response.
Over the next few months, my therapist and I began to unpack my complicated relationship with teaching. I quickly realized that my unhappiness started long before the pandemic. While I loved being in the classroom with students, the stress, the lack of support, the demanding parents, and the toxic positivity weighed me down. Any passion I previously felt had been replaced by complacency. I was comfortable with routine and my paycheck. It was far easier to stay in a job I didn’t enjoy than leave and risk the unknown.
Plus, my Danish residency permit was tied to my teaching job, so quitting would come with legal complications. But that’s a separate story…
Another reason I was hesitant to quit was the judgment that would likely come with my departure. People judge teachers who leave the classroom harshly. They say things like, “If she truly cared about the kids, she’d stay.” Or, “Isn’t quitting in the middle of the school year a bit selfish?” I didn’t want anyone to say these hurtful things about me.
The final reason I remained in the classroom was the uncertainty. I had spent my entire working career teaching preschool, and I was terrified that my experience wouldn’t be desirable in the non-educational world. I worried that a preschool teacher like me would have few options.
But Covid shifted my mindset. Even though I only worked from home for a few short weeks, it was enough to show me that another life was possible. I started daydreaming about leaving the classroom and finding a job with more freedom and less stress. The more I planned my departure, the happier I felt.
My last day in the classroom was February 28, 2021. I had no job lined up, and I was scared. I had no idea what I would do, but I was confident that it would have nothing to do with teaching.
I’m not going to lie to you. The next few months were some of the most difficult in my life. I submitted hundreds of job applications without getting a single interview, which was incredibly discouraging. I nearly accepted a teaching job at a different preschool out of sheer desperation, but I held firm to my goals. I was determined to leave education, even though I drained my savings account while searching for a job.
Luckily, I found a full-time job at a small health tech start-up. I’m now a copywriter and write web content and marketing emails instead of lesson plans. I’ve only been in my new role for a month and a half, but I’ve honestly never been happier. I work from home at least two days a week, and I experience almost no stress since I mostly work alone and at my own pace. I’m still getting used to it because a year ago, this seemed like a distant fantasy.
I wish I had left the classroom sooner because not only can I survive in an office job, I thrive.
