Quitting Takes Courage, a Whole Lot of It

Recently, a colleague of mine quit teaching, and it was a shock. The colleague was the hardest working and most committed colleague I knew, and yet, parts of the job grew unbearable.

This is not new in education, but respecting the colleague’s decision and thinking about it, the act of quitting took courage, and a whole lot of it.

I wouldn’t quit my job because there’s too much tying me to it. I won’t quit because I need the money, because I need to be financially stable, because I’m about to be married, and because I need to pay for school.

Some might find it respectable to stick out such poor treatment. I find I’m just a follower most of the time, and maybe scared to break the mold.

A lot of people are quitting their jobs right now

In the context of America’s Great Resignation, where a whole lot of people have been quitting their jobs. According to Candace Doby at MSNBC, 37% of Americans consider quitting their jobs, and it can be very difficult to pull the trigger.

Doby went through the process of quitting her job herself. She was in a marketing leadership role for a very large company, and during that time, she was very successful. At the job, she felt imposter syndrome, and she was only one of two Black people working in a marketing team of over 100 people. She was tired of the job, checked out, and just wanted to quit.

I remember someone I worked with over the summer, in my job helping recruit and train new teachers. I served as a coach. Another coach inspired me to do a better job. She was enthusiastic, happy and bubbly. She helped a lot of our potential teachers find their joy in teaching far better than my own, less passionate disposition could. I helped her facilitate her sessions and got a chance to chat after our workday was over for a bit.

We talked about what we would do after the summer was over. I said I would keep teaching for my third year. She said, well, she didn’t want to teach anymore. She was applying to jobs, but the last thing in the world she wanted was to teach another year. She wanted to move on, do anything else with her life.

Some would say she was quitting. I commended her decision (not like she was asking, anyway). We are in a passion-driven profession where there are a lot of pressures to stay in it. We’re in a national teacher shortage. A lot of teachers leave our inner-city schools every year, especially newer teachers. The profession is chronically understaffed — and to be a part of the solution and not the problem, there is one thing you must never do.

Quit.

Quitting is a lot harder than we think

It sounds noble in theory. You won’t be the teacher who quits. You won’t be the one who doesn’t serve the children. You won’t be the one to turn your back on the children.

But then reality kicks in. Days, months, and then years of not feeling supported by adults and not treated well by (some) of the children you’re trying to serve wears on you. Your mental health and even your physical health start deteriorating. It’s harder to attend to anything else besides teaching because of the stress.

I’m not saying this is the experience of every teacher, because everyone has a different experience. I am saying, however, that this is generally the experience of many teachers who quit. No one enters the profession idealistically, thinking “I’m going to quit this job in the middle of the year.” But people do, and you can’t fault them for it, or guilt them for it.

Doby says quitting your job takes courage, but it takes a long time to gain that courage. At the end of the day, she says it requires asking yourself what you’re willing to lose. Quitting a job means experiencing tremendous loss, something most people try to avoid.

I’m trying to quit teaching to get a promotion within the education world. It’s not necessarily quitting as much as trying to advance my career, which is something I didn’t think I would do three years ago.

However, sometimes you do have to look after yourself and put yourself first. In fact, I would argue you always have to prioritize yourself and put yourself first.

Quitting applies to much more things than work

As a runner, one of the most important things I’ve done is quit. I stopped sticking out bad workouts. I stop running or go home early when the run stops being beneficial.

I started quitting, and I’ve gotten much faster in times when it actually counts. I worked too hard. I stopped working smart.

There’s a lot of benefit to quitting a lot of things, not just smoking or drinking. Quitting is a fresh start. It’s a sign you put yourself first. It’s a sign you’re willing to take care of what really matters above all else: your health.

And it’s nothing to be ashamed of.